With House Republicans vigorously protesting that their Benghazi probe was not politically motivated, their campaign arm on Thursday took down a webpage that used the probe to solicit political donations.
The National Republican Congressional Committee took down the page not long after the top spokesman for the Hillary Clinton campaign noted on Twitter that the NRCC was still using the fundraising page.
House GOP campaign arm still fundraising off Benghazi Committee: “Let’s go after Obama & Hillary Clinton” https://t.co/Dy0e226czl
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) October 1, 2015
A spokesman for the NRCC told TPM that the fundraising page that was taken down on Thursday was an old page no longer in use by the committee.
“This webpage has been dormant and frankly we thought it had been taken down. It’s pathetic that Democrats would try to insinuate a dormant webpage is brand new in an effort to distract from the very important work of Chairman Gowdy’s committee,” NRCC Communications Director Katie Martin said in a statement.
The National Republican Congressional Committee asked individuals to donate by highlighting the Benghazi investigation and asking contributors to help Republicans “go after Obama & Hillary Clinton.”
The NRCC has been using the Select Committee on Benghazi for fundraising efforts for a while. The committee sent out an email in May 2014 asking for donations to help Republicans “fight” Obama and Clinton.
On the same day that the NRCC sent out the email, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), who leads the Benghazi committee, called on Republicans not to use the committee for fundraising efforts.
But when asked one day later about the party’s campaign arm decision to use the Benghazi investigation, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) did not echo Gowdy’s concerns and dodged numerous questions.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is facing stiff criticism from within his own party for boasting that the House Benghazi committee has succeeded in hurting Hillary Clinton politically.
