After Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Tuesday touted the Select Committee on Benghazi’s success in politically hurting Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, Republican members of the Benghazi panel tried to distance themselves from his comment.
“The focus of the Benghazi committee is to get to the truth. Trey has been clear about that, we’ve all been clear about that,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) told the Associated Press in an interview published on Wednesday.
When asked about McCarthy’s comments specifically, Jordan (pictured above) told the AP, “You can ask Kevin about that.”
“I know what our focus is. I know what I’ve been working on,” he continued. “I know my line of questioning I’ve been working on for Secretary Clinton, and they’re about Benghazi.”
A spokesman for the Benghazi committee, Jamal Ware, told the AP that the panel is committed to the “facts.”
“People view the Benghazi Committee through whatever lens or spin they choose, meanwhile, the Benghazi Committee is focused on, and our work is driven by, the facts,” Ware said.
McCarthy’s office also tried to do damage control on Wednesday.
“These inquiries have nothing to do with politics and everything to do with the consequences of what the former secretary has done and her confusing, conflicting and demonstrably false responses,” Matt Sparks, a spokesman for McCarthy, told CNN about the Select Committee on Benghazi.
Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) told CNN that McCarthy’s comments were a “slip up” and said that the panel’s work has not been political.
“That is not true at the committee, and (McCarthy) knows that’s not true at the committee. Chairman Gowdy has been clear this is not about politics,” he said.
