Saturday, May 9, 2015

Gap in State Department Records likely to hold up questioning of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about Benghazi and her E-mails

Benghazi House Select Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy Issues a Fifteen (15) Page “Interim Progress Update”

Gowdy’s report telegraphs that Hillary Clinton’s Benghazi testimony is likely to be delayed, because his House Select Committee is not yet ready to question Clinton due to the State Department’s failure to provide complete access to all documents from Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State

Gowdy says that the House Select Committee intends to interview a Who's-Who of Hillary aides and top White House personnel



A report of the report that appeared in Politico says,  “[The] highly-anticipated appearance [later] this month by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton before the House committee investigating the 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi may be postponed if the panel does not gain access to State Department emails...” (See “Hillary Clinton’s Benghazi testimony likely to be delayed” by Lauren French, 5/8/15, Politico [http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/hillary-clinton-benghazi-testimony-delayed-emails-117771.html]).

The Politico article states further that “...  ‘The Committee will call Secretary Clinton to testify once it is satisfied that all the relevant information has been provided by both the State Department and her....’    In [his] report, Gowdy criticized the Obama administration for the slow pace of turning over documents to the panel. He noted that dozens of subpoena requests have not been answered — making it hard, Gowdy argued, to effectively question Clinton....”

According to the opening passages of Trey Gowdy’s interim report, “The House of Representatives created and authorized the Select Committee on Benghazi to provide the final, definitive accounting of what happened before, during and after the terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya, that left four brave Americans dead.  The Speaker of the House of Representatives was unmistakably clear when he constituted  the Committee that he
wanted the Committee to pursue all relevant facts wherever they lead. ***   As Chairman I pledged an investigation worthy of the sacrifice made by these men and  worthy of the trust of my fellow citizens. That remains my pledge. It is a promise I made to the family members of those who were killed representing our country. It is the promise I make whenever I am asked about Benghazi all across our country. ***  In upholding that promise, the Committee has interviewed eyewitnesses never before interviewed, obtained tens of thousands of documents from the State Department and White House never before provided, and reviewed FBI reports specific to the interrogation and prosecution of Abu Khattala. In addition to interviewing witnesses never before interviewed, these interviews have led to additional witnesses and additional lines of inquiry, which must be followed (See “Interim Progress Update The Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attacks in Benghazi” by Chairman Trey Gowdy, 5/8/15, U.S. House of Representatives/ Select Committee/ Benghazi
[http://benghazi.house.gov/sites/republicans.benghazi.house.gov/files/Interim%20Progress%20Update%2005-08-15.pdf]).


TO DATE: PROBLEMS OBTAINING ALL STATE DEPARTMENT DOCUMENTS AND E-MAILS  —   STATE DEPARTMENT WON’T CERTIFY ALL OF HILLARY CLINTON’S RELEVANT MATERIAL HAS BEEN TURNED OVER TO GOWDY’S  SELECT COMMITTEE

Gowdy’s report goes on to state that  “...  The State Department has told the Committee that it cannot certify that it has turned over all documents responsive to the Committee’s request regarding the former Secretary’s emails. Absent access to the server that housed the former Secretary’s private emails, the Committee has no way to verify the assertions: (1) the former Secretary has produced the full universe of emails related to Benghazi and Libya; and (2) the server has been wiped clean and is currently void of any data that may reflect any email sent or received during her tenure as Secretary of State, including during the relevant time frame....”


WHAT COMES NEXT --  ACCORDING TO TREY GOWDY

Congressman Gowdy’s report also outlined the next phase of the panel’s investigation. The Select Committee will  include obtaining emails from and interviewing top aides to Hillary Clinton and officials from the Obama administration, including Cheryl Mills, Jake Sullivan, Huma Abedin, Susan Rice and Patrick Kennedy. The panel is also plans to interview former National Security advisers Tom Donilon and Dennis McDonough — now Obama’s chief of staff — and former chief aides Ben Rhodes and Tommy Vietor. All tolled, the House Select Committee on Benghazi has identified sixty (60) Obama administration officials that it intends to interview.  In addition, the House panel has held more than two dozen private briefings with the Obama administration, according to Gowdy’s report.

1 comment:

Galewyn Massey said...

UPDATE: THE “HILLARY CLINTON GETS ANOTHER DRUDGE HEADLINE” EDITION

THE NEW YORK TIMES LINKED BY DRUDGE — IT MAKES FOR A DRUDGE HEADLINE AND A NY TIMES FRONT PAGE STORY — AND IN ALL THAT, THE TIMES IS LINKING HILLARY CLINTON’S YOUNGEST BROTHER TONY RODHAM TO AN ATTEMPT TO GET HOUSING CONTRACTS IN POST-EARTHQUAKE HAITI

TONY RODHAM’S UNSUCCESSFUL PURSUIT OF HOUSING CONTRACTS IN HAITI HAD NOT PREVIOUSLY BEEN REPORTED — ACCORDING TO THE NY TIMES, IT RAISES NEW QUESTIONS

ODDLY, TONY RODHAM’S REFUSAL TO MAKE ANY ANSWER TO THOSE QUESTIONS CAME FROM THE HILLARY CLINTON CAMPAIGN


The Drudge report headline “WHAT TO DO WITH BILL? NOW HILLARY BRO UNDER SCRUTINY” links to a NY Times “Page 1" article that will appear in the Monday print edition (See “Tony Rodham’s Ties Invite Scrutiny for Hillary and Bill Clinton” by Steve Edermay, 5/10/15, NY Times/ Politics [http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/11/us/politics/tony-rodhams-ties-invite-scrutiny-forhillary-and-bill-clinton.html?_r=0]).

According to that Times report by Steve Edermay, “... On and off for two decades, [Hillary Clinton’s brother Tony Rodham] has tried to use his connections with his sister and his brother-in-law, former President Bill Clinton, to further a business career that has seen more failures than successes. The connections to the Clintons have given Mr. Rodham, a self-described “facilitator,” a unique appeal and a range of opportunities, like addressing Chinese investor conferences and joining an advisory board of a company seeking permission to mine for gold in Haiti.... His business dealings have often invited public scrutiny and uncomfortable questions for the Clintons as Mr. Rodham has cycled through a variety of ventures, leveraging his ties to them and sometimes directly seeking their help.... When Mr. Clinton worked as a co-chairman of Haiti’s earthquake recovery commission, Mr. Rodham and his partners sought a $22 million deal to rebuild homes in the country. In court proceedings three years ago in an unrelated lawsuit, Mr. Rodham explained how “a guy in Haiti” had “donated” 10,000 acres of land to him and described how he had leaned on Mr. Clinton to get the rebuilding project funded amid bureaucratic delays.... ‘I deal through the Clinton Foundation. That gets me in touch with the Haitian officials,’ Mr. Rodham said, according to a transcript of his testimony. ‘I hound my brother-in-law, because it’s his fund that we’re going to get our money from. And he can’t do it until the Haitian government does it.’... Mr. Rodham’s unsuccessful pursuit of housing contracts in Haiti, which has not previously been reported, raised new questions.... But in a statement from Mr. Rodham passed on by the Clinton campaign, he said that he wanted to protect his family’s privacy and that he would not engage in disputing claims about him, which he said he considered to be political attacks....”