Mike Pompeo battles House Democrats over Benghazi probe
by Joel Gehrke
| May 23, 2018 11:16 AM
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo snapped at Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., on Wednesday after Meeks asked if it's fair to say he "does not care about diplomatic security."
“No,†Pompeo said in an angry exchange during his first appearance before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “You should not conclude that.â€
The question from Meeks was just the most heated example of House Democrats venting their frustration over Pompeo’s role as a member of the select committee that investigated the Benghazi terrorist attack when he was a member of the House. That investigation took place during then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s tenure at Foggy Bottom.
“I think you can draw a line from this moment straight back to the most egregious example in recent memory of playing politics with foreign policy — and with a tragedy: the Benghazi Select Committee, on which you sat,†Rep. Eliot Engel, the top Democrat on the panel, said in the hearing. "The political circus that was set up to tear Hillary Clinton down, as the Majority Leader admitted — that was used to impugn the character of one of your predecessors."
The rebuke passed without comment at the time, but tempers flared when Meeks took up the refrain later in the hearing.
“You scolded her!†Meeks said. “You went after her with venom!â€
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