Telling Fox New’s Sean Hannity Sept. 30 that the GOP accomplished a lot with the Benghazi Committee discrediting Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) exposed Washington’s dark side. While walking back his statements since making them, McCarthy hoped to replace House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) who unexpectedly resigned Sept. 25. McCarthy’s comments to Hannity show that McCarthy isn’t ready for prime time, unless the GOP seeks to self-destruct before the 2016 election. McCarthy told Hannity he’d be a “conservative speaker that takes a conservative Congress that puts a strategy to fight and win,” discrediting Boehner for, among other things, trying to lead in the spirit of Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill Jr. (D-Mass.), who did his best during the Reagan years to work with a conservative White House.
McCarthy’s admission to Hannity about the real motive for setting up the Benghazi Select Committee should torpedo his ambition to replace Boehner. “And let me give you one example. Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi special committee,.a select committee . What are her poll numbers today? Her numbers are dropping. Why? Because she’s untrustable [a neologism]. But no one would have knowm any of that had we not . . .,” McCarthy told Hannity. No matter how much the GOP walks back McCarthy’s remarks, Rep. Trey Gowdy’s (R-S.C.) Select Committee has a lot of explaining to between now and when Ms. Clinton is expected to testify Oct. 22. McCarthy’s lack of political savvy rules him out for any high profile leadership position, especially House Speaker. Exposing GOP’s dark secrets on national TV hurts the Party.
Blaming Hillary for the Sept. 11 death of Amb. Chris Stevens and three other Americans has always been a stretch for the GOP. No Democratic committee formed to blame former President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for the thousands of deaths on Sept. 11. Holding Hillary accountable for a lack of security at a remote U.S. mission in terrorist-infested Libya speaks volumes. McCarthy’s admission of GOP strategy raises even more questions about the GOP’s attempt to discredit Hillary because of using a private email sever while Secretary of State. “I appreciate Rep. McCarthy finally coming clean and admitting what we have all known all along: That Benghazi Select Committee was designed and create as a political attack tool to damage a potential Democratic presidential nominee,” said Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), a member of the Benghazi Committee.
McCarthy gave away Reince Priebus and the Republican National Committee’s dirty little secret heading into the 2016 presidential election: That Hillary held a big advantage over any GOP candidate. Because of McCarthy, the public will start to question other GOP tactics to discredit Hillary, including making a big deal about her private emails while Secretary of State. While there’s nothing wrong with getting to the bottom of the Benghazi attack, there’s something very wrong about using it for political purposes. Both sides of the aisle want to know why former U.N. Amb. Susan Rice told the press that spontaneous rioting caused the Benghazi attack. Less thatn two months before the 2012 presidential election, the White House response to the Benghazi attack raised eyebrows. Hillary’s peripheral involvement was far less relevant than what led to Rice’s deceptive statements on national TV.
When Hillary testifies again, Gowdy will no doubt take a different tact following McCarthy’s statements. Instead of fingering Hillary, Gowdy should spend his time more productively to figure out what went wrong with the information chain leading Rice to career-altering gaffes. Before Rice’s appearance on Sunday morning talk shows, she was the odds-on favorite to replace Hilary as Secretary of State. After her gaffes, President Barack Obama was forced to go to Plan B picking Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to replace Hillary. Trying to pin Benghazi’s failed security on Hillary hasn’t yielded much fruit. Gowdy’s Select Committee facing some serious questions continuing to hammer Hillary’s credibility. All eyes will watch to see if McCarthy revealed the RNC’s dirty little secret about the Benghazi Select Committee. McCarhty’s admission should rule him out as House Speaker.
Heading into Hillary’s long-awaited testimony Oct. 22, Gowdy has his work cut out for him walking a tightrope between a partisan witch-hunt and getting out the facts about Benghazi. McCarthy’s admission on Fox News presents problems for the network going after Hillary’s emails with the same vengeance. “Despite claims that the Committee would be run with integrity, Republicans have engaged in a series of selective leaks of inaccurate and incomplete information in an effort to attack Secretary Clinton,” wrote the Committee’s Democrats to Gowdy. Appearing partisan now risks a voter backlash that Hillary could ride all the way to Election Day. Instead of focusing on Hillary, Gowdy should redirect his investigation to the White House snafus that cost Rice her promotion. More partisanship now could backfire on the GOP, especially their plan to keep dredging up Hillary’s email practices.
