House votes to start new Benghazi investigation

[ FOR AAS ]

HOW THEY VOTED

John Carter (R), Yes

Lloyd Doggett (D), No

Blake Farenthold (R), Yes

Bill Flores (R), Yes

Michael McCaul (R), Yes

Lamar Smith (R), Yes

Roger Williams (R), Yes

[ FOR AJC ]

HOW THEY VOTED

John Barrow (D), Yes

Sanford Bishop (D), NV

Paul Broun (R), Yes

Doug Collins (R), Yes

Phil Gingrey (R), Yes

Tom Graves (R), Yes

Hank Johnson (D), No

Jack Kingston (R), NV

John Lewis (D), No

Tom Price (R), Yes

Austin Scott (R), Yes

David Scott (D), NV

Lynn Westmoreland (R), Yes

Rob Woodall (R), Yes

[ FOR CMGO ]

HOW THEY VOTED

John Boehner (R), Yes

Steve Chabot (R), Yes

Jim Jordan (R), Yes

Michael Turner (R), Yes

Brad Wenstrup (R), Yes

[ FOR PBP ]

HOW THEY VOTED

Ted Deutch (D), No

Lois Frankel (D), No

Alcee Hastings (D), No

Patrick Murphy (D), Yes

House Republicans on Thursday launched their most comprehensive investigation yet into the 2012 assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.

But it remains to be seen whether Democrats will join in what GOP leaders said would be a quest for the truth about the deaths of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

The House voted 232-186 to establish the select committee. which Speaker John Boehner vowed during debate would “not take any shortcuts to the truth, accountability or justice.” Just seven Democrats, most facing tough re-election campaigns in Republican-heavy districts, broke ranks to join GOP majority in supporting the probe.

Democratic House leaders declared the appointment of the special panel, after months of hearings and evidence-gathering by standing House and Senate committees, merely a political ploy to raise campaign cash and motivate voters in an election year.

The panel’s investigation will be the eighth on Benghazi. Independent, bipartisan and GOP-led probes have faulted the State Department for inadequate security at the outpost, leading to four demotions. But no attacker has yet been brought to justice.

Republicans say they’re unsatisfied with explanations so far, and they have leveled a range of accusations against President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other senior administration officials. Chief among them: that the administration, amid a presidential election campaign, deliberately misled the American people about the nature of the attack and stonewalled congressional investigators to avoid the political consequences.

Democrats are divided over whether to boycott the select committee. They are concerned that their participation would grant legitimacy to what they believe will be a partisan forum. But they also worry that if they avoid it they will miss the chance to counter GOP claims and defend potential witnesses — including Clinton, a possible 2016 presidential candidate.

Party leaders will meet with their rank and file this morning to decide on the next step.

Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida criticized what she termed Clinton’s “song and dance” when House members sought to question her about Benghazi a few months after the attack. Clinton’s testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee was delayed when she missed a month of work toward the end of her tenure after suffering a virus, then a fall and a concussion, and then a brief hospitalization for a blood clot near her brain.

Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., said no evidence uncovered in any of the investigations thus far suggests wrongdoing by the administration. Republican claims have descended into “the crass and unbelievable,” she said.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said the questions “have been asked and answered time and time and time again,” adding, “Let’s end the political circus.”

Benghazi has produced 13 public hearings, the release of 25,000 pages of documents and 50 separate briefings. The select committee will not be the only inquiry, as other GOP-led congressional panels continue their probes, including a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee investigation that just last week took the extraordinary step of subpoenaing a Cabinet member. Secretary of State John Kerry has not said when he might testify.

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Boehner’s legislation creates the select House committee through the end of the year. If its work is not completed before the next Congress convenes in January, it will have to be reauthorized. The select committee has no explicit financial constraints.

Earlier this week, the National Republican Congressional Committee sent a fundraising email vowing that “no one will get away” from the committee’s investigation.

Rep. Steve Israel of New York, the Democratic campaign committee chairman, called fundraising off Benghazi “despicable and insulting.” Boehner on Thursday refused to criticize the fundraising drive.

In an opinion piece in USA Today, Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., whom Boehner has chosen to head the probe, signaled he would re-examine the Benghazi attack thoroughly, including questions Democrats and some senior Republicans consider settled.

The GOP-led House Armed Services Committee concluded months ago the U.S. military could not have responded in time to rescue Stevens and the others. Still, Gowdy asked, “Was our military response during the pendency of the siege sufficient?”

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