Just over two years since four Americans died in an attack on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Libya, a special committee convenes Wednesday in the U.S. House to further probe the incident, as Republicans vowed to get answers and Democrats accused the GOP of playing politics with the matter.
Asked to describe what the committee will do, Chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) told me that he'll push ahead with an investigation that is, "fact-centric, fair, go wherever the facts take us."
Democrats don't see it that way, as they launched a website yesterday to buttress their argument that most of the questions have already been "asked and answered" about the Benghazi attacks.
"We're not sure exactly where we're going," Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) said in a news conference about the investigation.
For those who believe there was a giant cover up by the Obama Administration, the subject of the first hearing is unlikely to give them many answers, as the panel will look over an internal State Department review board report, and the lessons learned in the wake of the Benghazi attack - something Democrats had asked to focus on.
"The best way to prove that something is not political in my judgment would be to take recommendations from a member of the other party," Gowdy told me about the first hearing.
Asked if he would call former State Department official Raymond Maxwell, who in recent days charged that documents were withheld on purpose to protect ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Gowdy seemed inclined to do so.
"He has a perspective that needs to be heard and questioned," Gowdy said, though he didn't guarantee that Maxwell would be called as a witness at a public hearing.
Democrats though have quickly moved to poke holes in Maxwell's story, pointing out that he has already been deposed by the House Oversight Committee - and that during his testimony on how the Benghazi attacks were dealt with by the State Department, he never made these accusations of a cover up.
One source who was very familiar with the work of the State Department review board labeled Maxwell's charge, "Total BS."
"I hope Gowdy puts Maxwell under oath," this person added.
At the State Department briefing earlier this week, spokeswoman Marie Harf did her best to knock down the story, labeling it "completely without merit, completely ill-informed."
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