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Democrats had threatened to boycott a new House panel to investigate the Obama administration's handling of the deadly 2012 assault on US posts in Benghazi, Libya. On Wednesday, they relented, citing need to keep check on GOP.

House Democrats will participate in the new Benghazi committee after all.

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Minority leader Nancy Pelosi of California on Wednesday named the Democrats' full allotment of five members to the special 12-person panel, which was created by the GOP House leadership to continue probing the deadly Sept. 11, 2012, assault on US diplomatic buildings in Benghazi, Libya.

US Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans died that day. Many Republicans accuse the Obama administration of misleading the public about the nature of the attack, which occurred just prior to the 2012 presidential elections. Democrats, in turn, accuse Republicans of distorting the facts surrounding Benghazi and keeping it alive for political reasons.

We cant simply let the Republicans run the show, said Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee and one of Ms. Pelosis choices for the panel.

Some Democrats thought Pelosi should boycott the panels work. They call the committee simply a mechanism to keep the Benghazi issue open as the 2014 midterm election approaches, after numerous other House panels had already thoroughly examined available Benghazi evidence.

Some disgruntled left-leaning commentators say Pelosi has thus fallen into a GOP trap by participating and implicitly giving the committee bipartisan legitimacy.

I suppose if the GOP steers the committee entirely off the rails, Dems can just begin the boycott later, writes Brian Beutler at The New Republic.

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House Democrats to join new Benghazi probe. Prudence, or worry? (+video)