The chairman of the House committee investigating the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, said Thursday that he can't set a date for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to testify before his panel because the State Department has been slow in producing needed documents.
In a letter Thursday to Secretary of State John Kerry, Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., complained that the department has delayed providing emails and other documents involving Clinton, a former secretary of state.
"Simply put, the committee must have the records of communication requested more than six months ago before the secretary's appearance can be scheduled," Gowdy wrote.
The State Department pushed back, saying the department has provided 300 emails from Clinton, 19 witnesses and more than 4,000 pages of documents from the initial State Department investigation.
The Benghazi committee "doesn't know how to take 'yes' for an answer," said State Department spokesman Alec Gerlach.
Gowdy had initially called for Clinton to testify next week on the attacks that killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya, but he told Kerry that no longer appears possible.
Democrats have complained that Gowdy and other Republicans are drawing out the Benghazi hearings in order to disrupt Clinton's presidential campaign, but Gowdy said the State Department is to blame for any delays. The committee must have a complete record before lawmakers can effectively question Clinton, Gowdy said.
"The only thing standing between the committee and the former secretary being able to discuss her tenure as secretary of state as it relates to Libya and Benghazi is the Department of State's failure, in more than half a year, to produce a single, solitary email responsive to our request and subpoena," Gowdy wrote.
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4 comments:
The dems are the ones dragging this out because they've got to hide all documents that would show Hillary is guilty of more wrongdoing or prove her inability to lead. Otherwise, the docs would have been handed over months ago.
Go get her in handcuffs that be progress. Start at the top
I like Trey but he voted yes on toothless HR 2048 - USA freedom act, Harris voted NO thankfully. All for naught, every single phone call and byte of data that goes through our phones is still being collected on every single one of us. Got Constitution? One more thing, VanHollen voted no, but Sarbanes voted yes...of course, Ellison, our Muslim congressman voted "NO" Think about that one for a minute. https://www.opencongress.org/vote/2015/h/224
Cut the budget to the foot draggers; that will wake them up. That includes the putz Kerry.
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