More than 150 House Republicans have signed on to a resolution that would create a “select committee” to focus on inquiries by the public and Congress about the Sept. 11 attack in Libya that left four Americans dead.
Forty members of Congress in the past three weeks have joined the push for a single committee.
House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, has resisted largely, analysts say, because the long-term political risks of a high-profile probe could outweigh any short-term benefit.
“This issue is not a sure-fire winner politically for the Republicans unless there is some bombshell that can be surfaced through a hearing in a select committee that has not already been surfaced by the multiple hearings that have been held so far,” said Christopher A Preble, who has monitored the Benghazi scandal from his office at the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute.
“If you spend a lot of time and there’s no additional information that comes out through the process, then you have the appearance of having, at a minimum, wasted a lot of time on a fairly insignificant matter”Mr Preble said.
Wasting a lot of time, he said, means that the Republican focus on Benghazi “just might reflect poorly on the party” as the November 2014 congressional elections approach.
The latest Benghazi revelations — along with reaction to the International Revenue Service targeting of conservative groups and the controversy over the Justice Department ’s seizure of reporters’ phone records — are dominating the news cycles.
On Sunday, the White House dispatched Dan Pfeiffer to blitz the talk shows. The senior adviser defended the administration on several fronts, telling ABC show “This Week” that Republicans owe an apology to UN Ambassador Susan E.Rice over their reactions to her initial remarks on Benghazi.
“The Republicans who had been talking about this, now that they’ve seen the emails, owe Ambassador Rice an apology for the things they’ve said about her in the wake of the attack,” he said.
On Fox News, he said the assertion that the Obama Administration was not responsive during the Benghazi attack was “offensive.”
Republicans fired right back.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, told “Meet the Press” that administration “made up a tale” about the attacks, and Rep. Jason Chaffetz, Utah Republican, said a cover-up is continuing.
“People deserve the truth, and the families deserve the truth,” Mr. Chaffetz said, calling for more investigation.
Republican Frank R.Wolf, Virginia Republican, is leading the House push to consolidate the investigations that are spread across five committees.
Source:The Washington Post
Nizeyimana Jean Pierre
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