House Democrats, let by the execrable Nancy Pelosi, are considering a boycott of participation in the select committee being appointed to investigate Benghazi – and maybe, this time, finally get some real answers.
They are doing it out of exasperation and fear: exasperation that a year and a half of lies and stonewalling has not put it to rest and fear that, this time the true story will be told, rather than the fantasy about a video tape, the lie that President Obama immediately called it an act of terrorism, and so many others.
The tack Democrats are taking is that Benghazi has already been investigated, it is old news, and why can\’t Republicans move on and do something productive. The one-word description? Smokescreen.
So how should they be answered? Why does Benghazi still matter?
Here, in its entirety, is the statement issued by Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), who will head the select committee. See if you think it makes sense – and please pay special attention to the part I\’ve put in bold print:
Benghazimatters because four of our fellow citizens were murdered underterrifying circumstances. Benghazi matters because a diplomaticfacility emblematic and representative of our country was attackedand burned on the anniversary of 9/11. Benghazi matters becauseAmericans deserve to know the truth from those entrusted to lead andgovern.
HouseSpeaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, is right to convene a select committeedevoted to uncovering all relevant facts connected to Benghazi, justas the House committees of jurisdiction were right to investigateBenghazi before this. Despite the passage of 20 months, there remainunresolved questions.
Whywas security for our facility in Libya inadequate, and why wererepeated calls for additional security unheeded and, indeed,explicitly rejected? Was our military response during the pendency ofthe siege sufficient? And in the days and weeks after the attack, wasthe Obama administration transparent and forthright with our fellowAmericans in describing the impetus behind the attack?
Moreover,no one has been arrested, prosecuted, or punished for the murders ofour fellow Americans. These outstanding questions, and others, arelegitimate, and seeking the answer to these questions should be anapolitical process.
Factsare neither Republican nor Democrat. While our fellow citizens arefree to draw varying conclusions and inferences from the facts,surely there can be consensus that every relevant fact must beuncovered.
Thereare still witnesses whose testimony has not been heard. Just lastweek, we learned the administration has withheld relevant documentsfrom Congress, despite a subpoena request. Some produced documentsare so heavily redacted as to be meaningless. The select committeeshould strive to uncover every relevant witness, document or otherpiece of evidence so our fellow citizens can know the facts and thefull truth.
“Mayjustice be done, though the heavens fall.” That adage governedmy time as a prosecutor in state and federal court, and it wouldserve us well as we uncover the truth about Benghazi.
Sorry, Rep. Gowdy; I agree with most of what you said, but not that jazz about facts being “neither Republican nor Democrat”.
Facts should be “neither Republican nor Democrat”. But they are not. With President Obama in the Oval Office, Nancy Pelosi leading house Democrats and Harry Reid the senate majority leader, they are tools – to be used as-is when it is advantageous and either ignored or perverted when it is not.
If Benghazi, which occurred less than two months before the 2012 elections, had been handled in a non-partisan way, it might well have sunk President Obama\’s re-election. And we couldn\’t have that, could we? So the lies and the stonewalling came at us like a ton of bricks. And even after President Obama got his second term, they have not stopped.
It is long past time for the truth to be heard. I hope Mr. Gowdy and the committee, regardless of who it is comprised of, will make that its first – and only – order of business.
