"John Boehner's select committee is nothing short of an in kind expenditure on behalf of the Republican National Committee ..."

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Benghazi investigation a GOP political ad: Column
Speaker Boehner combines tax money with tragedy to win the 2014 elections
By AriRabin-Havt, May 5, 2014

After investigations by the State Department's Accountability Review Board, the Senate Intelligence Committee, the House Armed Services Committee and the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform, John Boehner announced he intends to form a select committee to investigate the September 11, 2012 attack on our diplomatic compound in Benghazi.

This new effort was catalyzed by "smoking gun" e-mails unearthed in a FOIA request by Judicial Watch, purportedly unveiling a White House attempt to "cover up" the cause of the attack in Benghazi by foisting blame on a Youtube video, "Innocence of Muslims."

While complaints about the failure to release these e-mails during previous document dumps are not wholly without merit, the information revealed still fails to demonstrate a "cover up" by the White House.

In the critical email Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes provided UN Ambassador Susan Rice with messaging guidance for her round of appearances on Sunday morning talk shows.

A stated goal of the document was "to underscore that these protests are rooted in an internet video and not a broader failure of policy."

This is not an explicit reference to Benghazi. In dozens of locations around the Muslim world, demonstrators angrily reacted to the "Innocence of Muslims." Many targeted U.S. diplomatic facilities with violence. It was common sense to believe our UN Ambassador would be asked about these protests.

The only reference in the document explicitly linking the attack in Benghazi to the video was taken from talking points Rhodes initially received five hours before sending his email, and subsequently cut and pasted from a version drafted by the CIA 90 minutes later stating: "currently available information suggests that the demonstrations in Benghazi were spontaneously inspired by the protests at the US Embassy in Cairo and evolved into a direct assault against the US Consulate and subsequently its annex." The origin and content of this bulletin have been known now for nearly a year.

This smoking gun does not undercut the judgment of the Senate Intelligence Committee that found "there were no efforts by the White House or any other Executive Branch entities to 'cover-up' facts or make alterations for political purposes."

Regardless, House Republicans, in their continued effort to morph tragedy into political scandal will waste millions of dollars on a new Benghazi investigation while once again failing to ask the most critical question: How do we prevent an attack like this from ever happening again?

John Boehner's select committee is nothing short of an in kind expenditure on behalf of the Republican National Committee, hoping to weaken Democrat's electoral chances.
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