Democrats havent decided about joining Benghazi probe
As Congress left Capitol Hill for a two-week recess on Friday night, it remained unclear whether Democrats will participate in the newly minted House committee to investigate the Obama administrations handling of the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya.
House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) announced a roster of seven Republicans primarily comprised of members loyal to the GOP leadership who will serve on the committee, which is charged with determining whether the State Department responded to the attacks properly.
Democrats have decried the committees creation, and the caucus remains torn over whether its members should participate. The panel, Democrats say, is a politically motivated witch hunt.
The Republicans named to the committee were Reps. Susan Brooks (Ind.), Jim Jordan (Ohio), Mike Pompeo (Kan.), Martha Roby (Ala.), Peter Roskam (Ill.) and Lynn A. Westmoreland (Ga.). The roster notably excludes many of the Republican caucuss most vocal members when it comes to the controversy over the Benghazi attacks. Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) will chair the panel.
The attacks in which four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya, were killed occurred just weeks before the 2012 presidential election. Initially, the State Department blamed the attacks on a controversial YouTube video that had sparked protests throughout the Middle East. That proved to be an incomplete if not inaccurate explanation for the attacks.
Republicans have accused the Obama administration of purposely crafting dishonest talking points in order to insulate the president from criticism in an election year.
That furor was reignited this month when a conservative watchdog group obtained new State Department e-mails about the attack e-mails that had previously been withheld from the House committee investigating the matter.
Some Democrats have called for a boycott of the new committee, while others favor appointing at least one Democrat to serve on it.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has said that the committee membership should be split 50-50 to be fair, but the House GOP leadership rejected that and created a panel with seven Republicans and five Democrats.
Democrats took issue with several other provisions of the committee, saying that under the current rules, Gowdy, as chairman, could subpoena and interview witnesses without consulting Democratic members.
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Democrats havent decided about joining Benghazi probe