Bickering continues on Benghazi panel
Democrats and Republicans on the House committee investigating the 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi are continuing to clash over Chairman Trey Gowdyâs vision for the panel. The South Carolina Republican on Wednesday informed Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the panel, he plans to move forward with nearly two dozen subpoena requests for State Department witnesses, according to a letter released by Cummingsâ office. Story Continued Below The subpoenas were quickly criticized by the the five Democrats as an âunnecessary and abusive plan.â Separately, Gowdy outlined the rules for the 10-month-old committee, taking a jab at Democrats over what Republicans have argued is an unwillingness to move forward with the investigation. âI am unwilling to let the minority party veto subpoenas when it is clear they have prejudged the outcome of the investigation,â said Gowdy. âThe minority has repeatedly indicated it is unwilling to issue any subpoenas. If subpoenas are necessary for the committee to talk to relevant witnesses or access relevant documents, they will be issued.â The melee between Gowdy and Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the panel, follows a testy hearing Tuesday where both sides accused the other of needlessly politicizing the lethal attacks by Islamic extremists in Libya for political gain. Republicans argued that Democrats are not taking the investigation seriously enough while the five minority members have accused the GOP lawmakers on the panel of taking a page from the playbook of former Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa. âExercising your unilateral subpoena authority in this manner is exactly the type of abuse Democrats warned about when the Select Committee was formed because it was exactly the type of abuse we witnessed repeatedly from Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa,â the Democrats wrote. Notice of the 22 impending subpoenas came the same day as the State Department told Gowdy they could meet âas soon as todayâ to schedule witnesses to appear before the panel. Republicans are requesting a broad swath of State Department employees, many who are involved in the Justice Department prosecution case or who are stationed abroad, making it a complex task to secure their appearances. The witness list request by Gowdy has not been made public but former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to appear before the panel. Cummings said Tuesday she has verbally agreed to testify. The Democrats on the panel are asking for the committee to vote on the subpoenas before they are issued. With seven Republican members on the panel, the vote would certainly pass but would then be in the public record. In his notice on the rules of the committee, Gowdy also further clarified what he views as the scope of the select committee, including âsecurity decisions and military posture prior to the attack,â the White Houseâs response to the attack, and the Justice Department case against the perpetrators.â The investigation has yielded nearly 40,000 documents from the Obama administration, but Republicans say they are awaiting thousands more.