http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/206166-pelosi-waiting-on-benghazi-meeting-with-boehnerMay 14, 2014, 06:19 pm
Pelosi waiting on meeting with Boehner to move on Benghazi panel
By Mario Trujillo
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she would decide whether to appoint Democratic members to the select committee on Benghazi after she meets with Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).
The Speaker suggested the two meet face-to-face before proceeding, but Pelosi on Wednesday said Boehner is now trying to dodge it.
"Well he is trying to avoid the meeting now, but we're waiting for the meeting," she said in a CNN interview.
Pelosi offered no hints about which way she is leaning, saying "we'll see" when asked if Democrats will participate. Asked when she will decide, Pelosi simply said, "when I do."
The Democratic Caucus is divided about participating in the committee voted into existence last week to investigate the events surrounding the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya.
Democrats see the move as politically motivated and have complained about the committee's structure. Pelosi said the only disagreement in the party is over how to "showcase" the panel’s unfairness.
"The point is we want to show the public how unfair this process is," she said. "It should be evenly divided, they don't want it evenly divided. We said we should have equal access to witnesses. They said you may not even ever have access to witnesses."
Earlier this week, Boehner said he promised Democrats would be treated fairly in the process.
Boehner said a Democratic boycott would not stop the investigation, and last week he appointed the seven Republican members, including Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.).
“We’ve been having a discussion over the last four or five days over how witnesses will be handled, how documents will be handled, just trying to come to some understanding upfront of what I mean by fairness,” he said on Monday.
Pelosi also weighed in on Karl Rove's comments about the health of Hillary Clinton, a likely candidate for president in 2016.
"I think Hillary's strength, her popularity, the prestige she enjoys has driven the Republicans to their wits end," she said. "I think what he said only makes her stronger."
Rove has received criticism from both Democrats and Republicans for bringing up Clinton's health a number of times during a talk last week, saying, “Thirty days in the hospital? And when she reappears, she’s wearing glasses that are only for people who have traumatic brain injury? We need to know what’s up with that.”
Pelosi said when Rove brings up health, his is also implicitly alluding to age. She pointed out that Rove is not much younger than Clinton, saying "Maybe he is projecting his own weaknesses onto somebody else."
Rove is 63, and Clinton is 66.
Clinton was hospitalized in late December 2012 after doctors found a blood clot between her skull and brain. It was the result of a concussion she suffered earlier in the month.
