Norton Says Benghazi Select Committee Missed Opportunities and Revealed No New Relevant Information

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), a senior member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (OGR), which has held four hearings on the September 11, 2012, attacks on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, today said that even Benghazi Select Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) conceded in interviews that no new information was revealed at yesterday's unprecedented 11-hour hearing. Norton said former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, however, more than held her own as the hearing's only witness. Although previous statements by Republicans had undermined much of the Select Committee's credibility even before the hearing, Republicans chose to maintain their partisan posture, rather than seeking new credibility through a fact-finding approach. Norton said OGR and the several other congressional committees that have investigated Benghazi should declare victory for their work, which had revealed much of the information discussed at yesterday's hearing, except for largely irrelevant questioning on matters such as the emails of Sidney Blumenthal, a friend of Clinton's who sent her emails on Libya. Norton said yesterday's hearing stood in stark contrast to the Watergate investigation, which was conducted in a bipartisan fashion despite having the U.S. presidency at stake, and was fact-driven in order to determine the truth of what happened.

"Republicans on the Benghazi Select Committee chose to continue their $4.5 million investigation in the style of a partisan witch hunt, reinforcing existing the divisions between Republicans and Democrats that have dominated these hearings," Norton said. "More often than not, the four Americans who lost their lives in attacks seemed like an afterthought. Republicans were clearly trying to put Secretary Clinton on the hot seat, but she showed great poise and steadiness despite numerous attempts at ‘gotcha' questioning. It became clear that security issues on Benghazi no more reached Clinton than security issues involving the Capitol reach the Speaker of the House rather than the U.S. Capitol Police chief. However, if the committee had been trying to keep loss of life from happening again, it would have been fair to ask Clinton whether at least some security issues went up the chain to the Secretary of State herself and whether that began to happen after the Benghazi tragedy."