WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican congressman who will head a new probe of the Benghazi attack is suggesting he will re-examine all of the issues surrounding the attack — including some questions that have long been dismissed by Democrats and even some senior Republicans.
For example, a House panel led by Republicans concluded months ago that the U.S. military couldn’t have responded in time to save Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. But Congressman Trey Gowdy writes in “USA Today” that he wants to find out if the U.S. military response during the siege of the diplomatic post was “sufficient.”
Democrats are considering a boycott of the select committee. The panel is expected to be formally approved when the Republican-led House votes this evening.
Democrats fear that their presence will add legitimacy to what they think will be a partisan forum. But they don’t want to lose the ability to respond to Republican claims, and to provide cover for potential witnesses.
Republicans have made Benghazi a central plank in their strategy to take control of the Senate from Democrats in November.
%@AP Links
162-a-06-(House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, at news conference)-“loved ones, period”-House Speaker John Boehner says the goal of the select committee on Benghazi is to find out what happened. (8 May 2014)
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164-a-11-(House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, at news conference)-“members to serve”-House Speaker John Boehner says he hopes Democrats don’t boycott the committee. (8 May 2014)
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APPHOTO WX102: In this May 7, 2014, photo, Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., leaves a closed-door Republican strategy meeting at the Capitol in Washington. Speaker of the House John Boehner has tapped Gowdy, a former federal prosecutor, to chair a special select committee to investigate the attack on the U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, that killed the ambassador and three other Americans. Benghazi resonates with Republicans and remains a rallying cry with conservatives whose votes are crucial to the GOP in November’s historically low-turnout midterm elections. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (7 May 2014)
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