After more than two years of stonewalling from the Obama administration, House Speaker John Boehner has confirmed he will appoint a Special Committee to investigate Benghazi with Congressman Trey Gowdy leading the way. The Weekly Standard was the first to report a possible announcement of a Select Committee earlier this morning.
Obama admin defied subpoena, compelling House to establish a new #SelectCommittee on #Benghazi. http://t.co/nbaLpuNHsg
— Speaker John Boehner (@SpeakerBoehner) May 2, 2014
Here is the full statement from Boehner on the Select Committee:
“Americans learned this week that the Obama Administration is so intent on obstructing the truth about Benghazi that it is even willing to defy subpoenas issued by the standing committees of the People's House. These revelations compel the House to take every possible action to ensure the American people have the truth about the terrorist attack on our consulate that killed four of our countrymen. In light of these new developments, the House will vote to establish a new select committee to investigate the attack, provide the necessary accountability, and ensure justice is finally served.
“The administration's withholding of documents – emails showing greater White House involvement in misleading the American people – is a flagrant violation of trust and undermines the basic principles of oversight upon which our system of government is built. And it forces us to ask the question, what else about Benghazi is the Obama administration still hiding from the American people?
“The House committees that have been investigating this attack have done extraordinary work, using their subpoena power, holding dozens of hearings, and conducting hundreds of interviews. Without this work we would not know much that we do today. But it’s clear that questions remain, and the administration still does not respect the authority of Congress to provide proper oversight. This dismissiveness and evasion requires us to elevate the investigation to a new level. I intend for this select committee to have robust authority, and I will expect it to work quickly to get answers for the American people and the families of the victims.
“Four Americans died at the hands of terrorists nearly 20 months ago, and we are still missing answers, accountability, and justice. It’s time that change.”
Fox News Hill producer Chad Pergram breaks down the process:
Process 1: Either body of Congress may adopt a resolution to create a select cmte, allocate a budget, et al. But it has to have the votes.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) May 2, 2014
Process 2: The Watergate & Iran-Contra committees were select, joint panels which both the House & Senate created via the same resolution.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) May 2, 2014
Process 3: A potential House select cmte on #Benghazi would be specific to the House since there is little interest from the Senate.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) May 2, 2014
Process 4: For quite a while, one of the arguments against a select #Benghazi cmte in the Hse has been if it had the votes.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) May 2, 2014
This post has been updated.