After two years and $7 million spent, the House Select Committee on Benghazi has reached an ultimate conclusion, and it’s not the one Geraldo Rivera warned us about with his shirtless photos. Instead, an 800-page report details what happened during and after the 2012 attack in Libya that took four American lives. The event and its fallout — along with Clinton’s related email scandal, which has been categorized as a criminal investigation — has weighed heavily on the presumptive Democratic nominee’s perceived trustworthiness throughout election season. With a final drum roll, the committee has absolved Clinton of all wrongdoing related to Benghazi.
The effect of this report upon Clinton’s image remains to be seen after collateral damage sustained during primary debates. When quizzed on Benghazi, Clinton did express sympathy for the families of the victims, but she maintained that she never lied, only that information may have changed as events unfolded. Such statements were often booed by audiences, and things got uglier in a morning-after regard when one Benghazi victim’s mother declared that Clinton deserved a “special place in hell.”
Well, it seems that the House Committee feels differently. And although it’s fruitless to summarize such a lengthy publication here, telltale stern language points towards the Defense Department (along with the CIA and State Department) for not maintaining proper security protocols:
“The assets ultimately deployed by the Defense Department in response to the Benghazi attacks were not positioned to arrive before the final lethal attack. The fact that this is true does not mitigate the question of why the world’s most powerful military was not positioned to respond.”
Clinton’s team almost immediately issued a statement to The New York Times: “After more than two years and more than $7 million in taxpayer funds, the committee report has not found anything to contradict the conclusions of the multiple, earlier investigation.”
Meanwhile, Republican members of the committee tacked on a 48-page addendum onto the committee report. Representatives Jim Jordan of Ohio and Mike Pompeo of Kansas continued to criticize the Obama administration of keeping information under wraps with the 2012 presidential election fast approaching. Yet for such a substantial undertaking by the committee, the Benghazi scandal appears to have ended with a whimper. And even more telling — Ted Nugent hasn’t spoken yet. Just wait, the Nooge always has plenty to say on the matter. He’s probably preparing a statement right now.
(Via House.gov & New York Times)