Lawmakers hit the airwaves to spin Clinton's Benghazi hearing

In the wake of Hillary Clinton's marathon Benghazi testimony, Republicans hit the airwaves to try and reclaim the offensive after Clinton largely parried their best shots on Thursday, while Democrats kept hammering the exercise as a partisan farce.

On “The Kelly File” Thursday night, shortly after the House Select Committee on Benghazi wrapped up at 9 p.m., Megyn Kelly asked Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan whether the panel's investigation has been politically motivated.


“What did you see partisan from the questions we asked? We’re trying to get to the truth,” Jordan said. “What’s partisan about her telling the Egyptian prime minister one thing and telling the American people something else? That’s not partisan; that’s her statements.”

Jordan was referring to a sharp back-and-forth he had with Clinton about why she had acknowledged to the Egyptian prime minister that the Sept. 11, 2012 Benghazi attack was a pre-planned terrorist operation rather than a spontaneous event inspired by an anti-Islamic video.

“It certainly puts to bed this whole narrative that they ran with,” Jordan said. “You can’t say one thing publicly to the American people, to the tax-payers and then say something else different privately that’s what she did and the truth was what she said privately.”

Jordan also defended the 18-month length of the investigation, blaming the State Department's slow release of documents for prolonging the panel's work.

But Democratic Rep. Linda Sanchez fired back at Republicans during a Friday appearance on CNN’s Newsroom with Carol Costello, suggesting Democrats might quit the panel out of disgust.

“Having democrats in that hearing yesterday allowed the secretary to push back on all the lies and conspiracy theories that have been generated…had we not been in that room they would have just badgered her and beaten her into the ground,” she said. “At a certain point you have to throw up your hands and say this is completely useless.”

Clinton herself took an indirect swipe at the panel on Friday when she slammed the GOP for considering another special committee to investigate Planned Parenthood. "After my hearing yesterday, I am just amazed that they are even talking about setting up another special investigative committee, this time to investigate Planned Parenthood," Clinton told the DNC's Women's Leadership Forum at Grand Hyatt Hotel in DC. "And as we all know by now, that's just code for a partisan witch hunt. Haven't we seen enough of that?"

Rep. Mike Pompeo, who peppered Clinton with questions in several tense exchanges on Thursday, also made the rounds on the Friday morning news shows. The Kansas Republican pressed Clinton to explain why members of the U.S. mission in Benghazi had asked 600 times for increased security but none of those requests ever made it to Clinton's desk.

The Kansas Republican on “Fox & Friends” Friday said that he believed Clinton when she said she never received the requests, but that doesn’t mean she’s off the hook.

“She created a process where there were barriers for important information at a very dangerous facility one that was unique in the world … and yet this information never made it up to the most senior level of the State Department,” Pompeo said.

Pompeo also noted that no one was fired after the incident, calling it “the darndest thing.”

“I assure you had I been there or had the leader been there we would have figured out a way to make sure that someone inside the State Department was held accountable,” he said.

Later, on CNN’s Newsroom with Carol Costello Friday, Pompeo didn’t suggest the investigation would end soon.

“There’s no dollar amount that would be too great,” Pompeo said about the millions of dollars that have been spent.

But Sanchez, who also appeared on CNN, said there’s “plenty of information out there” and nothing discussed yesterday changed the current narrative.

“None of these wild conspiracy theories have proved to be true, based on the facts and the evidence,” the California lawmaker said.

She said that in her 13-year political career she hasn’t seen someone be questioned for as long as Clinton was, calling the questions the former secretary of State was asked “grueling” and “badgering.”

She also fired back at the questions about Clinton telling her family and the Egyptian prime minister one thing and Americans another, saying that initially they did believe it was inspired by the video. Later, U.S. officials found out it had been planned but only after gathering more information and intelligence.

“Nobody focuses on testimony they focus on these outlandish conspiracy theories,” Sanchez said.

Gabriel Debenedetti contributed to this report.