Following House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) Tuesday comment that the House Select Committee on Benghazi succeeded in hurting Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) on Thursday issued a statement making it clear that the panel’s focus was on getting the facts about the 2012 attack in Benghazi.
“Four Americans lost their lives in this terrorist attack because they were left without adequate security in one of the most dangerous places in the world. Their loved ones still don’t know the full truth about what happened, and they deserve real answers. All Americans do,” he said in a statement.
Boehner did not directly mention McCarthy’s remarks, but he rejected the notion that the committee was formed for political reasons.
“This investigation has never been about former Secretary of State Clinton and never will be,” he said.
“The members of this committee have worked diligently and professionally to fulfill this important mission and they will continue to do so,” he continued. “The American people deserve the truth about what happened in Benghazi. That’s always been our focus, and that’s going to remain our focus.”
Boehner issued the statement in response to a letter from Democrats calling on the speaker to disband the Benghazi committee following McCarthy’s remarks.
“It is unconscionable that the US House of Representatives is continuing to use millions of dollars in taxpayer funds for political purposes, and we urge you to immediately disband the Select Committee on Benghazi,” Democratic leaders in the Senate wrote in a letter to Boehner.
