A senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee said the select committee on Benghazi is shaping up to be seven Republicans and five Democrats.
Some Democratic lawmakers have encouraged their colleagues to boycott the panel, which will be led by Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.).
“Congress has a long history of these investigative committees. We attempted to do it through the existing structure with the four committees of jurisdiction. But as you know, we’ve been stonewalled by the administration, so much so that the legislative branch of our government was unable to get the e-mails that you guys in the press were able to get,” Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), who is angling for the gavel at the Intelligence Committee after Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) retires, told Fox this morning.
“We’re going to have good witnesses like Greg Hicks, who was the No. 1 man. After Ambassador Stevens was murdered in cold blood by al-Qaeda terrorists, Greg Hicks was the man in charge. And Greg Hicks has been put out to pasture by this administration,” Nunes continued.
“I think what we’re going to find to this investigation is that guys like Greg Hicks who were on the ground, the station chief that was there in Libya working for the CIA, all of those people are going to be extremely credible. And if we can ever get the rest of the e-mails out of the administration, we’re going to find out — we’re going to get to the bottom of what really happened in Benghazi and who made up these most ridiculous stories.”
Nunes noted that Congress still hasn’t gotten to the bottom of why the ambassador was in Benghazi that day.
“He did meet with people that day. I think that’s something the committee should look into. Who exactly did he meet with? I think the committee should try to meet with those folks or at least have investigators meet with those folks,” the congressman said. “There’s still a lot of information out here and I don’t blame anyone but the White House. The American people should blame no one but the White House.”
“They had an opportunity and they have a responsibility as leaders in this country to provide the legislative branch of government all of the documentation when the legislative branch asks.”
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters yesterday that Secretary of State John Kerry, subpoenaed to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee by Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), will be be “engaged with his team here in the coming days to discuss the request.”
“He was surprised to see that after serving 29 years in the Senate and working with both parties for decades, that he was sent a subpoena before a request to testify,” Harf said. “…And after seven investigations, 13 hearings, dozens of transcribed interviews and more than 50 briefings, the numbers speak for themselves.”
“…Our belief remains that there’s little evidence that a select committee is going to be a legitimate vehicle for congressional oversight.”
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