Posted on 10/22/2015 9:39:05 AM PDT by Kaslin
Benghazi Select Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy wasted no time Thursday morning going after Hillary Clinton and allegations from her presidential campaign team that his investigation into the 9/11/2012 terror attack is solely focused around her. From Gowdy's opening statement (bolding is mine):
Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods served our country with courage and with honor. They were killed under circumstances most of us could never imagine. Under cover of darkness, terrorists poured through the front gate of our facility and attacked our people and our property with machine guns, mortars and fire.
It is important we remember how these four men died. It is equally important we remember how and why they lived. They were more than four images on a television screen. They were husbands, fathers, sons, brothers, family and friends. They were Americans who believed in service and sacrifice. Many people speak wistfully of a better world, but do little about it. These four men went out and tried to make it better. And it cost them their lives.
We know what they gave us. What do we owe them? Justice for those who killed them. We owe their families our everlasting respect and gratitude. We owe them - and each other - the truth.
Madame Secretary, I understand some people - frankly in both parties -have suggested this investigation is about you. Let me assure you it is not. And let me assure you why it is not. This work is about something much more important than any single person. It is about four U.S. government workers, including our Ambassador, murdered by terrorists on foreign soil. It is about what happened before, during, and after the attacks that killed these four men. It is about what this country owes those who risk their lives to serve it. It is about the fundamental obligation of our government to tell the truth - always - to the American people. Not a single member of this Committee signed up for an investigation into you or your email system. We signed up because we wanted to honor the service and sacrifice of 4 people sent to a foreign land to represent us - who were killed - and do everything we can to prevent it from happening to others.
Our Committee has interviewed half a hundred witnesses, not a single one of them has been named Clinton until today. You were the Secretary of State for this country when our facility was attacked. So, of course this Committee is going to talk to you. You are an important witness, but you are just one important witness, among half a hundred important witnesses.
I understand you wanted to come sooner than today so let me be clear why that did not happen. You had an unusual email arrangement with yourself, which meant the State Department could not produce your emails to us.
You made exclusive use of personal email and a personal server. When you left the State Department you kept those public records to yourself for almost two years. You and your attorneys decided what to return and what to delete. Those decisions were your decisions, not ours. It was only in March of this year we learned of this email arrangement. Since we learned of your email arrangement we have interviewed dozens of witnesses, only one of whom was about your email arrangement, and that was a very short interview because he invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.
It was reported publicly for the first time in February 2015 by the New York Times that Clinton had used a private email account and server to conduct all government business during her time as Secretary of State. We also learned she deleted more than 50,000 emails she deemed "private business."
Ranking Member Elijah Cummings used the majority of his opening statement to defend Clinton and to accuses Republicans of a political witch hunt.
"Republicans continue to spin new conspiracy theories that are just as outlandish and inaccurate," Cummings said. "The Select Committee has spent 17 months and $4.7 million in taxpayer funds. We have held four hearings and conducted 54 interviews and depositions. Yes, we have received some new emails—from Secretary Clinton, Ambassador Stevens, and others. And yes, we have conducted some new interviews. But these documents and interviews do not show any nefarious activity. In fact, it’s just the opposite. The new information we have obtained confirms and corroborates the core facts we already knew from the eight previous investigations. They provide more detail, but they do not change the basic conclusions. It is time for Republicans to end this taxpayer-funded fishing expedition. We need to come together and shift from politics to policy."
And the democrats are here to lie for Clinton.
Again.
Isn’t it nice the democrats don’t care about the embassy or those killed? They care only about their Muslim loving voters.
What you signed up for, you sniveling, little country peckerhead, was to do nothing, and that is exactly what you have done.
Nothing.
Great job, Trey, I’m sure the 4 dead guys thank you very much for your efforts.
Now we will see if Gowdy has the stones to finish this off.....
Gowdy did not shave since last night, he’s been up looking over everything in preparation for this.
Well I’m watching it as I can stand to. Obviously from all the evidence it was a massive breakdown in security precautions but Clinton is very adeptly playing pass the buck. Even though its evident Clinton was an incompetent moron she didn’t do anything on purpose and she is protected by the endless layers of Bureacratic policy protocol and agency redundancy. They will never nail her on Benghazi.
Maybe better luck on Emailgate.
Madam Bimbo Eruptions.
Biggest news so far is that Chris Stevens was there to meet with Al-Qaeda.
We were backing AQ and ‘moderate terrorists’ to overthrow Gaddafi and it backfired.
Nobody will admit it.
Every time you catch a democrat red-handed they’ll always scream witch hunt. Well, in this case at least they have the ‘witch’ part correct.
I hope she has a heart attack at 4:07 PM, and collapses on cspan-3, I don't care if she survives, {I'm headed for the woods to hopefully get some venison}.
hildabutchbitch is a lying skank.
Thanks. Now I need not post : )
I thought the biggest news so far is how horrible she looks and obviously there was no face lift.
She looks old and tired.
"Most of my work was not done on emails."
Elijah Cummings is like a bad caricature of a cross between a clown and the village idiot.
This hearing is why Biden dropped out of the Presidential race. Hillary knows what Obama was doing during Benghazi.
“It is about four U.S. government workers, including our Ambassador, murdered by terrorists on foreign soil...”
Meanwhile, Bill keeps himself busy.
The whole point of this investigation should be about WHY Chris Stevens was in Benghazi, because it then becomes obvious why he was "allowed" to die. This was about weapons that the US government funneled to an Al Quaida affiliate in Libya, TREASON under statutory law naming Al Quaida as an enemy of the United States. Chris Stevens was engaged in a "buy back" of Ghadaffi's weapons that were then being forwarded to Turkey on their way to Syria. Stevens was killed because he knew too much.
Hearings on Capital Hill:
1. are a complete farce
2. never get to the truth
3. shy away from hot trails
4. aid and abet people like Clinton, who next year will say everything was looked at and she was found to have done nothing wrong
I never get excited when they talk about a Congressional investigation.
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