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House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. (Kathryn Scott Osler, Denver Post file)

WASHINGTON House Democrats will participate in the special, Republican-led select committee investigating the 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, despite serious concerns within the party that the inquiry is an election-year ploy to energize core GOP voters.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi announced Wednesday that she will appoint the full complement of five Democrats on the 12-member panel, tapping lawmakers who have been deeply involved in previous congressional investigations of the Sept. 11, 2012, assault on the U.S. diplomatic outpost.

Four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, died in the attack when militants stormed the mission. Republicans have accused the Obama administration of misleading Americans about a terrorist attack weeks before the election.

"I believe we need someone in that room to simply defend the truth," said Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Oversight panel, to reporters at a Capitol Hill news conference.

Cummings will serve as the ranking member on the select committee. Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, had selected Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., a seasoned prosecutor, to be the panel's chairman along with six other Republicans.

Democrats who also will participate are Adam Smith of Washington state, the top Democrat on the Armed Services panel; Adam Schiff of California, on the Intelligence Committee; Linda Sanchez, also of California, who is on Ways and Means' oversight subcommittee, and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, who serves on Armed Services.

Democrats have been divided over whether to boycott the investigation, the eighth probe into the attack. Some Democrats have called the new inquiry a political sham designed to embarrass the Obama administration and rough up former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, a potential 2016 presidential candidate.

Other Democrats have maintained that they must participate in the select committee to ensure they have a role in questioning witnesses. "We can't simply let the Republicans run the show," Smith said.

The special investigation means high-profile hearings with Republicans likely to target current and former administration officials, including Clinton.

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House Democrats to participate in Benghazi investigation