Opinion

Jackson Lee: Benghazi committee is costly, pointless effort

In a telling sign of the Republican Party's willingness to stop at nothing to defeat Hillary Clinton, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy let slip that the Select Committee on Benghazi is not a serious investigation, it's a highly partisan smear campaign targeting none other than the Democratic Party's presidential front-runner.

In an interview this week, McCarthy - slated to be the next speaker of the House - admitted that the Benghazi Committee is nothing more than a political sham with the lone, lowly goal of bringing down Hillary Clinton. In a preview of how McCarthy would comport himself as speaker, he told Fox News' Sean Hannity, "Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping."

Current Speaker John Boehner must be so angry. For nearly a year and a half, he and Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-South Carolina, have argued that the Benghazi Committee is focused on facts, not politics. It's always been baloney, but they've kept up the charade for a long time, even as they attacked Hillary Clinton time and time again on topics that weren't even related to the tragic events at Benghazi. Well, with one single comment - frankly, by accidentally telling the truth - Kevin McCarthy has ruined the Republican Party's carefully-hatched plans to use public funds for a partisan goal.

A quick look at the numbers reveals what a sham the Benghazi committee has been all along. After 16 months of "investigations" - longer than the government's investigations of the Kennedy assassination, Iran-Contra, and Pearl Harbor-the committee has only held three hearings since it launched more than a year ago. Why? Well, if you take Rep. McCarthy at his word, it's because the Republican Party wants to drag out this charade as long as they can to damage Hillary Clinton. Despite running one of the least-active committees in history, Trey Gowdy has managed to spend more than $4.5 million in taxpayer dollars to fund his right-wing crusade. And there's no end in sight for the Benghazi Committee - its existence and unlimited budget are slated to extend well into 2016, a not-so-subtle attempt by Republicans to exert their influence on the presidential election.

Put simply, the Select Committee on Benghazi was unwarranted from the beginning - mind you, this is the eighth congressional investigation into the tragic events in Libya.

Questions have been asked and answered, witnesses wrongfully subpoenaed and testified, documents reviewed time and time again, yet the Benghazi committee continues its explicitly partisan activities. The Republicans on the Benghazi Committee, namely Gowdy, have also demonstrated ruthless political tactics that have included witness intimidation and leaked information. Gowdy has even used the Benghazi tragedy and his role as chairman to raise funds for Republican politicians.

After 16 months, what does the Benghazi Committee have to show for its dogged efforts? There has been no evidence of any wrongdoing of any kind by Hillary Clinton, yet Republicans like McCarthy continue to spend gobs of taxpayer money to keep this shameful investigation going. What does this say about the Republican Party's priorities? The same week that they threatened to shut the government down over funding for women's health - the same week that the Zadroga Act, which provided critical health funding for 9/11 first responders expired - the Republican Party and its leader are using your dollars for an explicitly political goal.

It's shameful, and it's showing no signs of slowing down. Now there's even talk of a Republican-led congressional investigation into Planned Parenthood, already being described as the next "Benghazi-style committee." Enough is enough. The Benghazi committee has gone off the rails, and it's high time that we put an end to this partisan, pointless effort.

Jackson Lee, a Democrat representing Houston in the U.S. House of Representatives, is a senior member of the House Committees on Homeland Security and the Judiciary. She is the ranking Democratic member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations.