Days after House Democrats demanded an end to the monthslong probe into the the deadly 2012 assault on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, three Republican senators announced Monday a renewed push for a special committee to investigate the incident.
"We are once again calling for the appointment of a Joint Select Committee to investigate the terrorist attacks on our compounds in Benghazi," Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) said in a statement, according to Talking Points Memo. "It is imperative that we learn everything that happened before, during and after the attacks. A Joint Select Committee should be established."
In a Wednesday letter addressed to House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), Democrats accused the chairman of wasting taxpayer resources investigating unwarranted accusations against the Obama administration and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
"To date, the Committee’s investigation has been characterized by wild and unsubstantiated political accusations that turn out to be completely inaccurate after further investigation," all 17 Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee wrote. “Continuing this reckless pattern of launching wholly unfounded accusations on national television … is undermining the credibility of our Committee and the seriousness of our work."
The Pentagon confirmed in a March 11 letter that Congress' numerous probes into the Sept. 11 assault that killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, have cost the U.S. Department of Defense and other agencies millions of dollars and thousands of hours of personnel time.
An independent review by the Accountability Review Board blamed the State Department and inadequate security at the compound for the 2012 attacks, while a January report by the Senate Intelligence Committee faulted the military, U.S. intelligence and the State Department.
(h/t TPM)
Before You Go
