Washington Examiner’s Byron York Says Benghazi Hearing Was A ‘Bust’

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

After the House Select Committee on Benghazi concluded its 11-hour long hearing with Hillary Clinton, a few conservative commentators bemoaned that the testimony didn’t turn up any results.

The Washington Examiner’s Byron York wrote on Thursday that while he thinks the members of the committee still need certain information from Clinton, the hearing devolved into a spectacle.

“There’s a reason Benghazi Committee chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy offered Hillary Clinton the chance to testify in a private, closed hearing. And there’s a reason Clinton wanted to appear in an open setting, with the whole world watching,” he wrote.

York said that the hearing was sidetracked by partisan bickering and questions about side issues.

“The result was a marathon hearing that didn’t accomplish much,” he wrote.

York also lamented that Republicans on the committee had a “near-obsession” with Sidney Blumenthal, a longtime Clinton ally who sent Hillary Clinton emails about Libya while she was secretary of state.

“So a hearing billed as an epic, High Noon-style confrontation — granted, the hype came from the media, not Republican committee members themselves — instead turned out to be a somewhat interesting look at a few limited aspects of the Benghazi affair,” he concluded. “In other words, no big deal. And that is very, very good news for Hillary Clinton.”

Conservative commentator Erick Erickson was also unhappy with the results of the hearing it, calling it “a waste of time” and “a political spectacle.”

Latest Livewire
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: