Democrats still confused and undecided as to how to respond to Select Committee, and whether to participate in the process going forward to continue the investigation of the 9/11/12 anniversary terrorist attack and American tragedy
Did Hillary Clinton actually say that she is ABSOLUTELY SATISFIED that she knows what happened at Benghazi ? Of course, that’s from the very same person who had said, “What difference does it make....”
The House of Representatives voted on Thursday to establish a select committee on Benghazi by a vote of 232-186 to approve the select committee. The vote breakdown was 225 Republicans and 7 Democrats in favor of the measure, with 186 Democrats voting against.
As a result of the vote, the House is formally launching a comprehensive investigation aimed at answering lingering and contentious questions about what happened before, during and after the terror attack that killed four Americans in Benghazi on September 11, 2012. All prior House hearings had been held by individual committees, like Darrell Issa’s Government Oversight Committee with limited authority, purview and staff, complicated and limiting procedures, and a full plate of other matters to deal with.
The disclosure of the Rhodes email/memo pursuant to an outside FOIL request and subsequent litigation by Judicial Watch was the principal impetus of House Speaker Boehner’s decision to empanel a select committee to investigate Benghazi.
WAS THIS ANSWER A MAJOR GAFF BY HILLARY CLINTON ABOUT BENGHAZI ?
“During a Q&A session held at the Ford Foundation in New York City, ABC News' Robin Roberts asked former secretary of state Hillary Clinton about the Benghazi attacks: ‘Were you satisfied with the answers and are you content with what you know what happened?’ ” Nodding her head “yes,” Hillary Clinton’s verbal answer was an enthusiastic “ABSOLUTELY !” (See “Hillary Clinton: No reason for Benghazi investigation to continue” by Jaime Fuller, 5/7/14, Washington Post [http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/05/07/hillary-clinton-no-reason-for-benghazi-investigation-to-continue/][with videolink to ABC interview by Robin Roberts]).
Maggie Haberman writing in Politico puts it a little differently; “Hillary Clinton said Wednesday she is “absolutely” confident that questions about the Benghazi terror attacks have been answered as a congressional select committee was formed for another probe into what happened....” ( See “Hillary Clinton: Benghazi questions answered” by Maggie Haberman, 5/7/14, Politico [http://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/clinton-benghazi-106462.html]).
Hillary Clinton’s response to Robin Roberts on the Benghazi issue included the following remarks: “... Of course, there are a lot of reasons why — despite all the hearings (and) all the information that’s been provided — some choose not to be satisfied,” Clinton said. “That’s their choice and I do not believe there is any reason for it to continue in this way. But they get to call the shots in this Congress.”
UPDATE: THE “THE ‘BENGHAZI’ BATTLE LINES ARE DRAWN AND THE FORCES ENGAGED” EDITION
ReplyDeleteRAND PAUL SAYS THAT, BECAUSE OF BENGHAZI, HILLARY CLINTON HAS “PRECLUDED HERSELF” FROM BEING PRESIDENT — AND HILLARY’S SIDE QUICKLY RESPONDS
On Friday, Rand Paul made these remarks at the Republican National Committee's spring meeting in Memphis, Tennessee: "The thing is, this is about judgment.... And we're talking about, should we as a country have a commander-in-chief who didn't provide adequate security in Libya, didn't send reinforcements and then gave us nothing but spin? *** My opinion is that Hillary Clinton has precluded herself from ever being considered for that position...." (See “Rand Paul: Benghazi Has 'Precluded' Hillary From Being President” by Dylan Scott, 5/9/14, TPM Live Wire [http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/rand-paul-hillary-clinton-benghazi-rnc-meeting]).
HILLARY’S IMMEDIATE REACTION
In less than three hours according to a TPM UPDATE, “Correct The Record, the pro-Hillary rapid response group, offered a response to Paul's comments. *** ‘Rand Paul should be ashamed of playing partisan politics with this tragedy. Secretary Clinton took immediate action to prevent this from happening again,’ Adrienne Watson, its deputy communications director, said in a statement to TPM. ‘This is no secret; it’s public record. Is Rand Paul so focused on partisan gamesmanship he’s lost sight of the facts, or is he willfully playing politics with a tragedy?’ "
Maybe “Correct The Record” should tell us again — exactly how was it that “...Secretary Clinton took immediate action to prevent this [Benghazi] from happening again...” ?
BACKFILL: THE “KEEPERS OF THE FLAME” EDITION
ReplyDeleteIn case you missed it, The Democratic super PAC – American Bridge – launched an effort late in 2013 to "Correct the Record" against Republican attacks concerning the Democratic Party's potential 2016 presidential candidates — most notably Hillary Clinton (See “Top Hillary supporters launch ‘Correct the Record’ effort” by Aaron Blake, 11/1/13, Washington Post [http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/11/01/top-hillary-supporters-launch-correct-the-record-effort/]). According to that article in the Washington Post, “While the ‘Correct the Record’ effort is geared toward all Democratic candidates, Clinton's record is clearly the most at-stake these days, particularly given her status as the clear Democratic front-runner and the continued GOP attacks on her handling of the attack on the U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, last year....”
The staff for the “Correct the Record” project [see also: correct the record 2016.org] was reported to be about 20 people, according to the parent organization, American Bridge. The American Bridge super PAC is known for research and messaging rather than running TV ads.
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TO DATE, THE MOST-REPEATED PRO – HILLARY CLINTON TALKING POINTS AND PUSHBACKS AGAINST REPUBLICAN CLINTON-RELATED BENGHAZI QUESTIONS HAS BEEN FROM AN EARLY 2014 “CORRECT THE RECORD” ARTICLE
This is the introductory preamble to the January 2014 “Correct the Record” article: “Right-wing groups continued their shameful politicizing of the Benghazi tragedy in the face of verified facts and evidence. The more than 25 senior level staff briefings, 12 hearings, at least 3 independent reports, dozens of interviews, and the disclosure of more than 25,000 pages of documents, have left the Right ample opportunity to pick a word from here and one from there and create a “fact.” But we don’t play politics with facts, whether we like them or not. So we wanted to share some with you....” (See “The Right Continues To Shamefully Politicize Benghazi And Ignore Facts” paid for by American Bridge 21st Century PAC, [http://correcttherecord2016.com/the-right-continues-to-shamefully-politicize-benghazi-and-ignore-facts/]). This article is a compendium multiple citations with squibs of articles and editorials that harangue the GOP for its persistent questions, hearings and releases related to the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi overnight on 9/11 and 9/12, 2012. Overwhelmingly, the sources of these anti-Republican voices are from either: a) committees and review boards that were completely under Obama Administration control, or a U.S. Senate Committee controlled by the Democrats; or b) editorials or feature articles by media outlets and columnists strongly supportive of the Obama Administration.
These very same talking points were used last week and this weekend to pushback against both Rand Paul’s remarks at the NRC, and the House of Representatives’ authorization and naming of a Select Committee on Benghazi.