http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/256188-reid-benghazi-committee-a-political-hit-jobOctober 07, 2015, 10:46 am
Reid: Benghazi panel a 'political hit job'
By Jordain Carney
Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) slammed House Republicans for refusing to shut down a committee responsible for investigating the 2012 Benghazi terrorist attack in the wake of controversial comments on its effect on the 2016 polls.
"It's been a week since it happened, but the American people are still reeling from House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy's admission that the so-called Benghazi Select Committee is nothing more than a political hit job on Hillary Clinton," Reid said from the Senate floor. "The Benghazi Select Committee is a sham."
Reid's remarks come after House Democrats launched a failed bid on Tuesday to try to dismantle the committee, which has been at the center of a scandal over former Secretary of State Clinton's use of a private email server.
A push by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) — which would have attached closing the committee to a separate proposal on creating a committee to investigate Planned Parenthood — failed along party lines.
And on Wednesday, Rep. Allan Grayson (D-Fla.) filed an Ethics complaint against McCarthy and Benghazi Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.)
Reid added on Wednesday that House Republicans are using the four Americans who died during the 2012 attack "as political fodder to win an election."
"Even more shocking that this political farce continues now with House Republicans showing no signs of bringing this charade to an end," he said. "Until House Republicans do the right thing and ban this committee, I'll continue to tell the American people about this disgrace, the House Republicans' Benghazi Committee."
Reid's remarks aren't the first time Senate Democrats have weighed into the political fight between House Republicans and Clinton.
Last week, Reid and Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin (Ill.), Charles Schumer (N.Y.), Patty Murray (Wash.) and Barbara Boxer (Calif.) sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) arguing that it would be "unconscionable" to let the committee continue.
The blowback from Democrats, and some Republicans, comes after McCarthy suggested the Benghazi probe is a top political accomplishment for the House GOP.
"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. Why? Because she's untrustable," he told Fox News at the time.
He has since defended letting the committee continue, saying in a statement on Tuesday that "the mission of the Select Committee on Benghazi is to find the truth — period."
