McCarthy Gives It Another Shot: Forget Everything I Said About Benghazi!

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif. speaks about foreign policy during the John Hay Initiative, Monday, Sept. 28, 2015, at a hotel in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

After his controversial comments about the Benghazi committee, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Tuesday issued a new statement clarifying that the committee was formed to find the facts. His press release came after Hillary Clinton’s campaign released an ad Monday night slamming Republicans for using the investigation to attack her politically.

“The mission of the Select Committee on Benghazi is to find the truth — Period,” McCarthy said in the statement. “The integrity of Chairman Gowdy, the Committee and the work they’ve accomplished is beyond reproach. The serious questions Secretary Clinton faces are due entirely to her own decision to put classified information at risk and endanger our national security.”

In the ad released on Monday, Clinton’s campaign included McCarthy’s recent comments about the Benghazi committee’s political success.

“Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right?” he said on Fox News last week. “But we put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping. Why? Because she’s untrustable [sic]. But no one would have known any of that had happened had we not fought and made that happen.”

After his comments, the majority leader and his Republican colleagues attempted to do damage control.

“It was never my intention to ever imply that this committee was political. Because we all know it is not. And it has one sole purpose, let’s find the truth wherever the truth takes us,” McCarthy said after his initial comments. “And you know what? Sometimes truth comes out, and other manners, and let’s not let politics hold that back.”

Latest Livewire
137
Show Comments

Notable Replies

  1. Somebody is seeing his chances to become Speaker of the house slipping away…

  2. The Gop completed an exhaustive and actually fair report on Begassi. It completely cleared Clinton of any wrong doing. She should keep referring to that report.

  3. Clowngressman, what “truth” are you hoping to find that the previous 8 Benghazi committees did not?

    Also, how do you explain the zealotry of this committee to not accept the findings, in comparison to the investigations of the 13 Benghazis under the previous administration?

    Are you just not as good at investigating things as the Congressional Democrats?

  4. Avatar for dv01 dv01 says:

    Shorter McCarthy: Who ya gonna believe? Me today or me last week?

  5. Avatar for azjude azjude says:

    You know the old saying mccarthy, truth hurts! Especially when you spew it out by accident!

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

131 more replies

Participants

Avatar for lestatdelc Avatar for bp Avatar for thaverly Avatar for pluckyinky Avatar for littlegirlblue Avatar for butlerknights Avatar for dv01 Avatar for eggrollian Avatar for nick1936 Avatar for navamske Avatar for thunderhawk Avatar for krusher Avatar for cometboy Avatar for mcbain Avatar for Lacuna-Synecdoche Avatar for DuckmanGR Avatar for mantan Avatar for daveyjones64 Avatar for emjayay Avatar for railbird Avatar for dickweed Avatar for pbeat Avatar for dnl Avatar for benthere

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