It’s been a year since the House Select Committee on Benghazi began its work, and although the committee has produced an interim report and its share of headlines, it has not come close to completing its mission.
And, according to the committee, most of the delay can be traced to the snail’s-pace response from the executive branch, particularly the State Department.
For instance, the committee requested documents from the State Department that pertained to the Accountability Review Board’s report on Benghazi last November and reinforced them by subpoena last March. So far? “Six months with zero communications from State,” Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., told Fox News this week.
“While progress has been made,” said Gowdy at the release of the interim report, “the greatest impediment to completing this investigation in a timely manner has been the level of cooperation by the executive branch.”
Not only has the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency taken years, in some cases, to respond to demands for documents, but even the security clearances needed for the committee staff to review those documents were delayed by the executive branch.
These delays became the subject of the committee’s third hearing, on Jan. 27. This turned out to be the most contentious hearing so far, but it did produce results. “The effect was immediate,” says the interim report. The CIA allowed “in camera” access to 4,000 pages of documents, and security clearances started coming through.
Even under tough conditions, the committee has accomplished a lot. According to the “Progress Update,” the committee’s first meetings were with families of the four victims, offering them not only assurances they would get answers but also helping them as they claim survivor benefits from the government.
In addition, the committee has reviewed more than 20,000 pages of executive branch documents and emails never before released. It has interviewed survivors of the attack who had not been interviewed by other congressional investigative committees. It has reviewed 50,000 pages of documents handed over by other committees and obtained another 20,000 in less redacted form than originally submitted from government agencies.
The committee’s next steps will include interviewing current and former State Department, intelligence community and White House Staff, including Cheryl Mills, Huma Abedin, Patrick Kennedy and Susan Rice. From the National Security Council, Ben Rhodes, Tommy Vietor and Tom Donilon, none of whom have spoken to congressional investigators before, will speak with the committee. Also under review will be 50 intelligence reports on the only individual so far charged in the Benghazi killings, Abu Khatalla, and 200 pages of documents relating to the hapless filmmaker who produced the video “The Innocence of Muslims.”
There is still much to learn about Benghazi and its aftermath. But Gowdy has vowed not to publish his final report until all the facts are in, and he clearly is working toward that laudable goal.
