Promising a final report by June on the Sept. 11, 2012 Benghazi attack, killing 52-year-old Libya Amb. Chris Stevens and three other Americans, House Select Committee Chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) insists he’s made “considerable progress.” When Gowdy finished grilled former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton for 11 hours Oct. 22, 2015, there wasn’t much new. Spending nearly two years and $6 million, Gowdy’s Select Committee has little to show for it other than fingering the State Department and Pentagon for lax security. Problems started for the White House when former U.N. Amb. Susan Rice took to the airwaves on national TV Sept. 15, 2012 telling the public that the attack was due to spontaneous rioting. Republicans on Capitol Hill went wild, accusing President Barack Obama of a cover-up less than two months before the Nov. 4, 2012 presidential election.
When questioned why the White House got its wires crossed after the Sept. 11 Benghazi attack, Hillary insists the “fog-of-war” contributed to the delayed admission that the attack was a carefully planned al-Qaeda attack on the U.S. mission. Fox News has been consumed by Benghazi, blaming Hillary for failing to provide adequate security at the remote U.S. outpost in terror infested North Africa. Gowdy’s GOP committee and right-wing radio and TV networks blamed Hillary for the attacks, making little sense other than partisan politics. When House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) blurted out Sept. 30, 2015 to Fox News’s Sean Hannity that the Benghazi Select Committee did its job of damaging Hillary’s polls, Democrats went wild, screaming political witch-hunt. By the time Hillary testified Oct. 22, 2015, Gowdy’s Select Committee had little credibility.
Gowdy’s committee interviewed National Security Adviser Susan Rice and her deputy Ben Rhodes Feb. 19. Rhodes reportedly wrote the White House talking points given to Rice before speaking on National TV Sept. 15, 2012, blaming the attack on rioting from a YouTube video called the “Innocence of Muslims,” defaming the Koran. It’s not clear whether or not Rice or Rhodes clarified when the White House learned that that Benghazi was actually a carefully planned terrorist attack. “The American people and the families of the victims deserve the truth, and I’m confident the value and fairness of our investigation will be abundantly clear to everyone when they see the report for themselves,” wrote Gowdy in an email, promising a report by early June. Opinions about Hillary’s culpability fall on partisan lines, with Democrats viewing the Select Committee as a partisan witch-hunt.
Gowdy’s Select Committee shifted to reviewing Hillary’s classified and unclassified emails passed along her private email server. “Anybody who watched that and listened to it know that I answered every question that I was asked, and when it was over the Republicans had to admit they didn’t learn anything,” said Hillary, stating that she gave nothing new. “I don’t know that she testified that much differently that she has the previous times that she’s testified,” said Gowdy, confirming that Hillary stuck to her same script. Blaming Hillary for the Benghazi attacks worked, as McCarthy admitted, to damage Hillary’s approval ratings but didn’t resonated with most voters. No one blamed former President George W. Bush or Vice President Dick Cheney for the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks that killed 2,977 on U.S. soil. Yet Gowdy’s committee tried to pin the Benghazi attack on Hillary.
Gowdy’s committee would have made more hay had they focused on President Barack Obama and Hillary’s policy of toppling Libyan strongman Col. Muammar Gaddafi Aug. 24, 2011. One year later, Libya was a terrorist haven, leading to the anarchy causing the Sept. 11, 2012 attack. Whether admitted to or not, Gaddafi ruled Libya with an iron fist, keeping terrorist groups out. Like Iraq, after toppling Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein April 10, 2003, Libya was turned into a terrorist free-for-all resulting in the Benghazi attack. When Gowdy’s work hit more dead ends, it turned to Hillary’s emails hoping to show that she ignored Steven’s requests for added security. Whatever the emails show, it’s not the role of Secretary of State to assure security at U.S. missions and embassies overseas. Only the Defense Department provides necessary security to U.S. properties.
Gowdy wants to wrap up his work by June but knows the presidential election won’t end until Nov. 4. “The only real deadline is the presidential election,” said Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), a member of the Benghazi panel, critical of Gowdy’s partisan leadership. “I don’t think there are new meaningful facts to uncover at this point,” said Schiff, after the previous Congressional investigation led by former U.S. Amb. Thomas Pickering and retired Adm. Mike Mullen, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Jaded by saturation partisan reporting, voters don’t aren’t swayed by whatever Gowdy’s committee reports. Whether or not the FBI finds Hillary culpable of mishandling classified or top-secret information on her private email serve is another story. Regarding the Sept. 11, 2012 Benghazi attack, there’s not too many stones left unturned at this point to make any difference.
