Posted on 05/30/2014 1:49:20 PM PDT by Nachum
A House panel has canceled a June hearing with Secretary of State John Kerry and will no longer call him to testify.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., had planned to grill Kerry about the Sept. 12, 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
But Issa, who had subpoenaed Kerry to appear, said he is "releasing him from the upcoming hearing commitment."
Issa said Kerry was using the Oversight hearing "as a shield" against cooperating with a newly created House select committee that has been empaneled to examine the Benghazi attack and the Obama administration's response to it.
“It’s been disappointing to watch a long serving former senator, like Secretary Kerry, squirm his way to what I'm doing today,” Issa said.
Last week, State Department officials told Issa that Kerry's testimony before the Oversight panel would "remove any need" for him to also participate in a hearing before the select committee
Issa said he made the decision with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
Chicken!!!
I was upset when it came out Issa or Gowdy, not both, so I'm glad! I would much rather see Gowdy cross examine when the time is right than Issa do it now.
You betcha!!!! I can't WAIT for the day. Popcorn in hand. Gowdy will make mincemeat out of him. I bet that Kerry is actually disappointed in Issa's decision!!!
Can’t quite agree.. The State Dept has lots of documents on Benghazi, which Kerry originally promised to provide..he hasn’t...also..he can make witnesses available...he hasnm’t as yet..<P.
Gowdy will put the screws on..
Then again, if Kerry is thinking about making another run for the presidency in 2016, he could allow himself to be "forced" to turn over documents which would be very damaging to main rival, Hillary.
But that (meaning Kerry providing docs) is only a piece of theater. He *has* to say he will provide them as part of the *act cooperative but seek to delay forever* routine. There is nothing he has or could have that dates from pre-Benghazi. There might be analytical items, but those mean nothing until the analysts who composed them come forth and testify and that turns into the 5-minute-at-a-time questioning game where one congressional idiot asks what *he* thinks is important to make him/herself look good, then another one does the same. These are *never* conducted like a Trey Gowdy, a real prosecutor, would conduct a case where he, and only he, has the charge to pursue an issue to a complete conclusion.
There’s no distinct pile of stuff Kerry has exclusive ownership of or can provide that isn’t ex-ante, that State cannot provide.
OTOH, I happen to like the idea of getting the pre-Kerry State Dept in some deep hot water while he skates on at the perimeter. He’s bound to make some typical, goofball mistake under those conditions.
That’s O.K., Gowdy will be much tougher on ol’ Horseface than Issa anyway.
. Issa saying no (releasing Kerry) allows for Trey Gowdy to call him
Good to know this. It needs to be heard.
So true, so true. And Kerry was just a 73 at Haaaaavud.
Not a good sign.
Boehner wants Issa out of this business. That’s why they created a select committee and that’s why Issa isn’t on that select committee.
My first thought as well. I want him in one that requires the oath.
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