The Pentagon admonished Representative Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) this week, lobbing criticism at him for allowing the circus known as the House Select Committee on Benghazi to continue so long into the 2016 election season. Rep. Gowdy, who chairs the committee, rejects the criticism completely, according to Politico, saying President Obama and his administration delayed the Committee.
He also blames the Department of State, the Pentagon, and House Democrats for the delays, but Rep. Gowdy’s requests are simply a last ditch effort to stay relevant. As such, the Obama administration, the agencies, and Democrats are having none of it.
An Effort To Stay Relevant
The well-deserved criticism lobbed at Rep. Gowdy, who chairs the Benghazi committee, from the Pentagon came after the chairman plucked Rear Admiral Richard Landolt’s name off a sparkling new witness list.
The Committee made the new list in January 2016 after switching its focus off of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and onto military personnel, according to a Top Pentagon official via Politico.
‘Unproductive,’ ‘unfair,’ ‘unfortunate': Pentagon official scolds House Benghazi committee https://t.co/OZJwuZqlP7
— Benghazi Democrats (@BenghaziDems) April 29, 2016
After it became obvious the Benghazi Committee’s failed 11-hour grilling of Sec. Clinton in October, 2015 revealed nothing they could use against to hurt her, Republicans had to do something to keep the Committee relevant – especially after wasting $5 million in taxpayer money.
Although Rep. Gowdy cites a list of delays by the State Department, and blames other Obama Administration drama, ranking Committee Democrat, Representative Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said, “this has absolutely nothing to do with federal agencies,” and everything to do with Republicans on the committee delaying their requests until after their failed hearing with Sec. Clinton.
The “More, More, More” Tantrum
Rep. Gowdy cites delays from 2014 and 2015 that have little to do with the Committee’s current interview or document requests – or the committee’s shift in focus, as the Department of Defense outlined in a letter to Rep. Gowdy.
New document and witness requests beginning in January, which led to even more document requests and witnesses, and then led to most recently calling the Rear Admiral for an interview on Thursday, May 5.
That a request that broke the camel’s back and sparked the Pentagon’s recent outrage, and it wasn’t the first time, either.
The committee just received two new productions, one from the NSA and one from the State Department: https://t.co/wyv019hd4P #Benghazi
— Benghazi Committee (@HouseBenghazi) May 6, 2016
Rep. Cummings and other Democrats blasted Rep. Gowdy’s insistence on dragging out the committee’s investigation, saying Rep. Gowdy could have done a parallel investigation into the military while investigating the State Department.
According to Politico, Rep. Cummings continued, saying,
“Republicans have been spending their time scheduling dozens of new interviews — which they could have conducted long ago — to justify their own existence, drag out this investigation as close as they can to the election.”
Former chief counsel for a former House Committee Mark Paoletta, among other Republicans, frequently criticize the Obama Administration and the rest of the executive branch for “slow rolling” investigations such as the Benghazi committee, even though the delays are often caused by those making the claims.
An official from the State Department said the Benghazi Committees’ requests were “unprecedented” according to Politico. The official continued, saying,
“To our knowledge, in the history of the State Department, Congress has never subpoenaed the working files or testimony from an independent [investigation],” the official added. “We have made clear our concerns about the chilling impact this disclosure will likely have on the work of future reports.”
Rep. Gowdy believes he is “entitled” to every piece of information from everyone from before, during, and after the attacks – rightfully so if it has anything to do with the attack. It is completely laughable that Rep. Gowdy would think he and the Committee are “entitled” to subpoena military personnel who “could have been” deployed, but weren’t, or people who call into radio shows who have no direct or indirect dealings with anyone or any mission related to the Benghazi attack. These “entitlements” are unreasonable and the requests unacceptable.
Partisan Sham
Ousted in 2015 as nothing more than a partisan sham, Rep. Gowdy put together the Benghazi Committee with the sole purpose of hurting Sec. Clinton’s presidential ambitions – he even admitted doctoring emails to make Sec. Clinton look guilty. Even the Benghazi Committee’s Twitter account reeks of partisanship.
Other than a badly thought out reelection campaign tactic, the Benghazi Committee has accomplished nothing but spend more than $5 million in taxpayer money to making officials’ lives hell and likely to continue with never-ending document and witness requests.
In spite of promises to put together a final report in one months’ time in order comply with the its self-imposed “summer” deadline to end the investigation, the Benghazi Committee is likely to continue into the foreseeable future to ensure they’re doing something to try to make the Obama Administration look bad.
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