A House committee investigating the 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya, is losing credibility and Republicans on the panel now are under pressure to “justify their own existence,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Monday.

The comments come three days ahead of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s widely anticipated testimony before the committee on Thursday.

Mr. Earnest pointed to the fact that some House Republicans — including House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy — have suggested the panel’s true aim is to drive down the Democratic presidential front-runner’s poll numbers, not find out the truth beyond the Benghazi attack.

Mr. McCarthy later walked back his comments and other Republicans have insisted that the committee’s goal is investigating the attack, which claimed the lives of four Americans, including the late Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.

But the White House still believes the panel’s actual motivation is to sink Mrs. Clinton’s presidential ambitions and drive more questions about her use of personal email while secretary of state.

“I think the pressure will really be on them, frankly, to justify their own existence,” Mr. Earnest said. “That very existence has been called into question by at least two Republican members of Congress. We’ll see if they’re able to do that when Secretary Clinton is before the committee later this week.”

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