It has become apparent that no matter how many investigations of 2012’s Benghazi attack – including their own – reveal no wrong doing by the Obama administration, or by Hillary Clinton personally, Republicans are going to insist on blaming them.
Even though the Pentagon has already questioned whether the committee’s final report is based on fact, and even though the investigation has clearly revealed no new facts, even though Gowdy has previously admitted on Fox News that troops could not have gotten to Benghazi in time, House Republicans will not cease pretending they are actually doing something. Worse, that they are doing it for the American people.
And now, in time for the Fourth of July, in the name of military personnel whom through their greed and incompetence, they let die by cutting security funding for American embassies.
This time the chosen Republican conspirators are Select Committee on Benghazi Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-SC), Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA), and Rep. Susan Brooks (R-IN), and you can watch here as they pretend the select committee’s final report contains new information.
Today, as we prepare to celebrate the Fourth of July, we can take pride in the fact that brave men and women, through their own ingenuity and determination, were able to achieve independence for our great nation.
This same essential American spirit was on full display in Libya on the night of September 11, 2012, where brave men and women—serving at one of our highest threat foreign outposts in one of America’s least secure diplomatic facilities—had to rely on their own ingenuity and determination and one another to survive.
The Select Committee on Benghazi sought from the beginning to tell their story and provide the final, definitive accounting of that fateful night for their families and the American people.
It is because of this investigation, we now know no American forces were ever going to Benghazi the night of the attacks.
And the small group from Tripoli that did go, did so on their own initiative. Because of this investigation, we now know the full story of all the security agents and personnel who made it from Tripoli to Benghazi—who faced assaults, gunfights, ambushes, and ultimately a fatal mortar attack that left two heroic rescuers dead.
And now we know were it not for the extraordinary efforts of a CIA security contractor, we would have lost two more Americans that night.
The real story of Benghazi is truly a tale of two cities. In Benghazi, where our people were valiantly fighting for their lives, and Washington, DC, where administration officials sat on a teleconference and talked for two hours.
Meanwhile, half a world away in Europe, forces that were ready to respond were forced to wait on the transport and to change into and out of uniform four times.
The end result of this previously unknown teleconference was a list of action items, half of which had to do with an online video.
It is sad and telling that instead of a singular focus on rescuing our people in harm’s way, key decision-makers in the administration were worried about a video and the appearance that our rescuers could be perceived as invaders because of the clothes they were wearing.
By focusing with dogged determination on uncovering all relevant documents and talking to new eyewitnesses, the Select Committee is now able to tell you, the American people, about these important new facts that fundamentally change what we know about Benghazi.
Because we want to do everything possible to ensure this never happens again—and if it does, that we are better prepared to respond, the majority makes a series of recommendations for the Pentagon, State Department, intelligence community, and Congress.
On behalf of a grateful nation, we honor the service and sacrifice made by Ambassador Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Glen Doherty, and Tyrone Woods, and all those who served in Benghazi. On this Independence Day weekend, we recognize them as true American heroes and patriots. And we thank them, and we thank their loved ones. May God bless our citizens and may God bless the United States of America.
The nest of lies that is the select committee has already been revealed by Democrats on the committee in their own 339-page report. This week’s Republican address is simply an attempt to justify the millions of dollars wasted on an invented scandal in order to damage both the Obama administration and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Gowdy claimed, “The seven of us believed that there were more questions to ask, that there were more answers to acquire, more witnesses to interview, more documents to access,” all without managing to reveal that Republicans cut embassy security funding by $300 million. You’d think in 800 pages he could have found room for that little tidbit. Or that Clinton had warned them they were putting Americans at risk. That didn’t make it into the report either.
All this shows that no matter what they claim, Republicans on the committee are more interested in subverting than “uncovering” the truth about Benghazi.
The fact is, Republican failures led to the death of four Americans on September 11, 2012. Pretending to act in the name of patriotism, House Republicans have instead used the Fourth of July to celebrate a partisan witch-hunt, thus dishonoring themselves and all the men and women in uniform they pretend to praise.
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