Benghazi panel will have 7 Republicans, 5 Democrats
Updated 8:24 p.m. ET, 5/6/2014
(CNN) - House Republicans have decided the select committee to investigate the Benghazi terror attack will include seven Republicans and five Democrats, according to two senior House GOP leadership aides.
The House is expected to vote on the legislation establishing the panel later this week.
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Earlier Tuesday, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi demanded it be evenly split between Republicans and Democrats.
Now that the committee's structure has been decided, it's unclear whether Democrats will participate.
After a meeting among Democratic leaders, several sources in the room said their biggest concern is not about having fewer members, but having an equal say in how the panel will be run - especially regarding subpoena power.
Democrats said they plan to give Republicans a set of principles for how they would want the process to work, but privately don't expect them to go along with it. That would make it highly unlikely they would participate.
Rep. Jim Clyburn, a Democrat from South Carolina, told reporters he's "dead set" against members of his party participating in any panel that isn't modeled on the House Ethics Committee, which is evenly split.
Asked about concerns that Republicans would go unchallenged without Democrats on the committee, Clyburn said, "Let them drive it, they're driving it anyway - not bringing a noose to my hanging."
Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 House Democrat, said "we did want it to be evenly split but we don't know the process that they are going to go through and we want to find that out."
Four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, were killed in the September 2012 armed assault on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, which is in eastern Libya.
House Speaker John Boehner said last week that he would form the select committee after Republicans said new information unearthed by a conservative watchdog group supported their claim that the Obama administration politicized its public response to the attack.
The White House said that development had nothing to do with Benghazi. Democrats have been sharply critical overall of the Republican-led investigation in the House.
Benghazi has become a partisan political flashpoint overall in Washington over President Barack Obama's conduct of foreign policy.
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If the Dems have even the slightest amount of spine and brains left, this show trial nonsense will have 7 GOPers/Teatrolls and ZERO Dems. It's nothing more than a kangaroo court witch-hunt and this deliberate stacking of the committee proves it beyond any doubt. The GOP/Teatrolls are not trying to figure out what happened...they're trying to arrange for control over the proceedings so they can pretend to prove that what they say happened is what happened and then write a self-serving report claiming they proved it.
Hopefully this will have the same overall effect as the Birther Conspiracy Theory. Remember, a lot fo GOP'ers were on-board when that started too.
"their claim that the Obama administration politicized its public response to the attack."
Which, of course, is nothing more than projection of the GOP/Teatrolls' politicization of their own response to the attack...which is still, apparently, ongoing. After all, what better way to hide what you're really doing than by accusing the other guy of doing it first? Especially when you've got the MSM in a Skinner Box and you're the ones they come to for their nontroversy pellets.
Sounds to me like a no win situation. How about 6 and 6. These Republicans are just unbelievable.
I am belived that republican are right what happened about benghiziana
I guess 7 and 5 is not that partisan, is it?
Save us all the time and money and hold the vote upon the committee's conclusions immediately upon convening the committee. We all know it's a foregone conclusion. There's not a single GOPer/Teatroll in office who hasn't already stated with certainty what their conclusions already are. They've run around simultaneously broadcasting their absolute conclusions and their claims that "we need to get tot he bottom of this" without the slightest indication that they recognize the cognitive dissonance inherent in making both claims at once. This is a joke. Just save us the time and money and skip to the end....we already know what the end is going to be anyway if it's not an even split on the committee.
Why even bother? The repubs will plug their ears and eyes, while spewing "nah, nah, nah, i can't hear you" whenever testimony doesn't fit with their narrative. And the final vote will be repubs 7, Dems 5.
The only reason repubs are doing this is to affect the midterms and try to damage Hillary Clinton – because none of their candidates hold a CANDLE to her!
Republicans started the violence to win the election. They lost.
Somebody tell them "It's the economy stupid."
Most Americans have no idea, or care to have any idea, where Benghazi is but we all know that wages and employment here in America kinda sucks right now.
Seven Republicans, 5 Democrats and ZERO Credibility.
Benghazzzzzzzzzzzzzziiiiiii!!!!! One laugh fest leads to another. And how many million will this latest little conspiracy plan cost?
Did these Republican phonies ever exhaust this much energy to investigate 09/11/01? They can all leap off a bridge for all I care.
What are the Dems so scared of? If this administration did nothing wrong, then they have nothing to hide. Me thinks they protest too much.
Impeach 0bummer and lock up Hillary for treason. They played politics with American lives and lied for political gain. After November impeachment.
Or, as the republicans call it, fair and balanced.
Benghazeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
What would be wrong with seven dems, and five GOTP members? Or better yet, six and six. Don't like the odds huh, Johnny Baybbbbbbbbbeeeeee.
Jon Stewart said it best with his sarcastic dismissal: "Ooooh..."
That's the scandal? The greatest cover-up ever, "millions of times worse" (as I read on here the other day) than Watergate. Spin in Washington DC? Aside from being highly hypocritical of Republicans, this argument is so weak it is set to implode on itself like the government shutdown.
The real scandal is how defense funding for these diplomatic posts was cut by Congress. But for some reason, Republicans don't want to investigate that problem.
Benghazi is transparent Republican 2016 presidential smear strategy. Yet another swift boat attack. It's all about Hillary. The same reason Monica Lewinsky is trying to sell a book NOW.
--to find fault they have more Rethuglicans? Is this democracy? Nonsense. Nothing wrong with Benghazi, nor Monika. Hillary16.
Waste of time and money. How many investigations into the 13 attacks under Bush in Benghazi were held?
All Democrats should ignore this witch hunt and refuse to participate in any way,shape or form. Republicons should be exposed for what they really are,make up artist's.
Twelve people getting a chance to make time and a half wages, while doing absolutely nothing. They only care about the federal deficit if the rest of us are involved. When it's their pay and benefits, the sky's the limit.
In other words. A typical Republican STACKED deck.
Drooling idiot Pelosi is asking for fairness in having equal representing members in the investigative Commitee. They didn't think twice when they passed the abortion we know as Obamacare.with only the majority of Democratic votes whome everyone of them voted for.
Why not 6 & 6? Of course you have to give the GOP the advantage...
Now when will the committee be forming to investigate Iraq?? Soon I hope. At least investigate the embassy attacks under Bush.