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Dems: GOP trying to ‘move goalposts’ on Benghazi issue

Panel chairman wants information unrelated to attack

The Columbian
Published: June 17, 2015, 12:00am

WASHINGTON — The Republican chairman of a House panel investigating the deadly attacks in Benghazi, Libya, complained Tuesday about delays in receiving emails between Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton and a longtime confidant.

But committee Democrats countered that delay was understandable after the committee expanded its scope from a probe of the September 2012 attacks that killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador, to a broader examination of U.S. policy toward Libya.

“I will leave it to you to figure out whether there was a failure to produce on the former secretary’s part or a failure to produce on the Department of State’s behalf,” Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., told reporters Tuesday. “But clearly the committee should have gotten this information sooner.”

Democrats said Gowdy, the chairman of the Benghazi panel, has recently begun seeking emails and other documents that go far beyond Benghazi or the terrorist attacks. They cite a May 29 letter Gowdy sent to Sidney Blumenthal, a longtime Clinton adviser and friend who testified for several hours in closed session Tuesday.

The letter seeks “any and all documents and communications” sent to or received by Blumenthal related to Libya, “but not limited to Benghazi and Tripoli.” The letter also asks for information on weapons found in, imported to or removed from Libya. Gowdy made similar requests in a March subpoena to the State Department.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Gowdy and other Republicans were continuing to “move the goalposts in terms of what they’re asking for from the State Department.”

A member of the Benghazi panel, Schiff said the shift in tactics was occurring “out of frustration (by Republicans) that they weren’t able to find anything of any interest on Benghazi — that is, anything that hadn’t already been disclosed by the eight other investigations” conducted over the past several years.

Blumenthal was pressed for answers about frequent emails on Libya that he sent Clinton when she served as secretary of state. Blumenthal worked in the White House under President Bill Clinton.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the senior Democrat on the panel, said Blumenthal’s deposition was the latest example of how the committee “has strayed far from investigating the Benghazi attacks and is now focused like a laser on attacking Secretary Clinton in her run for president.”

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