"Republicans continue to drag out this political charade closer to the 2016 presidential election, and the American taxpayers continue to pay the price,” said Ranking Member Elijah Cummings, pictured right. | AP Photo Dems slam Benghazi panel for taking longer than 9/11 probe

Democrats on the House Select Committee on Benghazi blasted the GOP-led investigation on Wednesday for taking longer than the probe of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Democrats said Wednesday marks the 609th day the Benghazi committee has been working since it started its investigation in the spring of 2014, “surpassing the length of time the 9/11 Commission took to investigate the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.”


But even as the left pilloried the panel, committee investigators planned to hear testimony from former CIA director David Petraeus on Wednesday, signaling Republicans will continue to press ahead with the probe.

And Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) in a gaggle with reporters Wednesday afternoon said there’s nothing he can do about the timing because they’re still waiting on several outstanding document requests from State Department, the CIA and the White House that are key to the investigation.

“You have a choice: You can either issue a report that’s incomplete because you don’t have all the documents, or you can wait and put up with the criticism of how long it’s taking until you do have all the documents,” Gowdy said. “And I have accepted the reality that we’re going to be criticized no matter what we do, so we might as well write a complete and exhaustive report — so we’re going to wait until the document requests are complied with.”

Democrats are renewing their rhetorical assault on the committee after a relatively quiet few months. The minority party worked hard to discredit the panel ahead of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s testimony before the committee in late October, issuing multiple news releases a day defending the 2016 Democratic frontrunner and accusing Gowdy of running a partisan witch hunt.

Since then then they’ve gone quiet.

But now, with a series of high-profile witnesses like Petraeus coming in this month, and with a new Hollywood movie about the attack — “13 Hours” — set to be released in theaters in a few days, the panel’s investigation should get renewed attention.

“The Select Committee’s investigation of the Benghazi attacks has been widely condemned as hyperpartisan and ineffective, and it stands in stark contrast to the bipartisan investigation and report issued by the 9/11 Commission,” said ranking member Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) in a statement. “Instead of following the bipartisan model set by the 9/11 Commission, which brought our entire nation together after we were attacked by terrorists, Republicans created a highly partisan Select Committee with an unlimited budget to attack their political opponents. Republicans continue to drag out this political charade closer to the 2016 presidential election, and the American taxpayers continue to pay the price.”

Republicans fired back by arguing that the 9/11 probe actually went on for more than 634 days, even as they accused Democrats of playing politics and “acting as a full-fledged arm of the Clinton campaign.”

The difference in the respective numbers appears to be because Republicans counted the 30-day closing period following the 9/11 report's release, while Democrats did not.

“Democrats on the Benghazi Committee continue to waste taxpayer dollars playing politics and issuing stupid, meaningless press releases that are inaccurate to boot,” said GOP spokesman Matt Wolking. “Their complete lack of interest in getting answers for the families of the four Americans who died ... is grotesque.”



Gowdy, a former federal prosecutor who has said he takes the criticism of his panel personally, has repeatedly said he’s just trying to do his job and is not out to get Clinton. He’s even criticized members of his own party who have suggested otherwise, including Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

Behind the scenes, GOP sources say the panel is working toward a conclusion this spring and slow responses from the administration have bogged down the process. The committee asked for documents from Clinton’s top aides, the White House, and intelligence and defense agencies, but only started receiving some of them in the past few months.

For example: The panel requested the Benghazi-related emails of Under Secretary of State Pat Kennedy on Nov.18, 2014. Those just arrived a couple days ago on New Year’s Eve, according to one panel source. And as of several weeks ago there were still outstanding document requests, particularly at State, GOP sources said.

After spending much of its first year focused on the State Department, which ran the Benghazi diplomatic compound where four Americans were killed, the panel has transitioned to focusing on CIA and Defense Department actions. A key question they’re trying to answer is whether the CIA and the military could have and should have done more to prevent the attack or stop it while it was going on.

The committee’s final report is expected in the spring.

