Benghazi Committee Gets Files of Hillary's Staff After 'Deplorable' Delay

The House Select Committee on Benghazi said Friday that it received 1,100 pages of documents requested back in November 2014 — a delay chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) called “deplorable.”

Subpoenas were issued by the committee in March and August of last year for the files that include computer folders of senior staff in then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s office.

They include emails from Cheryl Mills, Jake Sullivan, Huma Abedin, and Susan Rice.

“It is deplorable that it took over a year for these records to be produced to our committee, and that our Democrat colleagues never lifted a finger to help us get them,” Gowdy said in a statement. “Shame on them and everyone else who has demanded this committee to give up before gathering all of the facts.”

“This investigation is about a terrorist attack that killed four Americans, and it could have been completed a lot sooner if the administration had not delayed and delayed and delayed at every turn. For example, the committee still does not have records we requested over a year ago, and we are still waiting for some witnesses to be made available for interviews.”

Gowdy vowed that “as soon as possible, we will release our report and interview transcripts so everyone can see the evidence for themselves, and I’m confident the value and fairness of our investigation will then be abundantly clear to everyone.”

On Thursday the committee interviewed its 90th witness: General Philip Breedlove, former commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Africa.

Breedlove, like 70 other witnesses who have come before the Select Committee, had never previously testified before any congressional committee investigating the Sept. 11, 2012, Benghazi terrorist attack.

Committee Democrats complained on Thursday, the 700th day of the Benghazi panel’s existence, that it was costing taxpayers too much money and revealing no new information.

“As House Republicans drag on their taxpayer-funded partisan attacks on Secretary Clinton closer and closer to the election, their actions have shockingly become even more partisan, secretive, and dysfunctional,” said Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.). “Republicans are now breaking House Rules by refusing to provide Democrats with our copies of witness interview transcripts in an attempt to prevent Democrats from publicly releasing evidence that rebuts Republican conspiracy theories and allegations.”