Exclusive--Benghazi Victims' Families, Conservative Leaders to Boehner: Install Select Committee Now

by Matthew Boyle

 

 Three family members of the victims of the Benghazi terrorist attack and scores of conservative and military leaders are kicking off 2014 by demanding that House Speaker John Boehner install a select committee, Breitbart News has learned exclusively. U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens, Foreign Service Officer Sean Smith, and security officers Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty were killed during the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya on Sept. 11, 2012.

In the letter to Boehner, which was delivered on early Monday afternoon and provided exclusively to Breitbart News, Sean Smith’s mother, Pat Smith, and uncle, Michael Ingmire, along with Tyrone Woods’ father, Charles Woods, joined the call for a select committee to investigate the Benghazi scandal. Other notable signers include former Rep. Allen West (R-FL), conservative leader Ginni Thomas of Liberty Consulting, Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton, retired Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin, Freedom Center president David Horowitz, and scores of other military and conservative movement leaders.

“We write to express our grave concern over the failure of your House of Representatives to extract the truth from the Obama administration concerning the attack on our diplomatic and intelligence facilities in Benghazi, Libya; and, the brutal deaths of Ambassador Christopher Stevens, U.S. Foreign Service Officer Sean Smith, and security officers Ty Woods and Glen Doherty,” the coalition wrote to Boehner.

Specifically, a House select committee on Benghazi would be similar to the Watergate select committee formed in the U.S. Senate during the scandal that took down President Richard Nixon. It would be a focused committee with members from both the Democrat and Republican parties and staffed with the proper resources to conduct a thorough investigation of the matter. Thus far, Boehner has had five separate House committees investigating the matter that have not succeeded. He has also publicly opposed the creation of a select committee, saying he does not think it is necessary.

There is currently a bill in the House of Representatives, H. Res 36 from Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), that would create such a committee. It has, including Wolf, 179 cosponsors according to the Library of Congress, well more than the majority of the House GOP majority--which is 232 Republican members strong. Yet, despite the overwhelming support from the House GOP conference, Boehner continues to refuse to allow a vote on the installation of a select committee to investigate the Benghazi scandal and continues to block efforts to bring the bill forward.

Now that this new coalition is stepping forward, Boehner may end up facing enough pressure to force him to create the committee.

The letter's signers are demanding Boehner install a select committee to investigate what happened. They argue that Boehner’s unwillingness to create an official investigative body has benefitted President Barack Obama’s administration, as it has taken advantage of the lack of focus in House investigations.

“To date, five (5) different committees of the House have conducted separate hearings, uncovering information in a piecemeal fashion lacking professional investigators,” the coalition wrote to Boehner. “The five committees’ efforts are disjointed and uncoordinated. The Obama administration has benefited from that dysfunctional process to hide the truth."

"Hardly any Obama administration witnesses have testified – publicly or privately," they continued. "You have resisted repeated calls for the creation of a select investigative committee with subpoena authority. It appears that you are satisfied to allow that state of investigative incoherence and ambiguity to continue. The last public hearing by any of the five committees was held in September – four (4) months ago."

"The families of the dead who fought valiantly to protect the mission and their families, the survivors, and the American people deserve better from you and your Members of Congress," the letter explained. "They deserve the absolute truth from their government. Your failure to get the truth and hold public officials accountable increases the possibility of other repeat attacks and additional failures to defend Americans abroad.”

The coalition argues that Boehner’s idling through the investigative process has led to things like a recent New York Times story which claimed that al Qaeda terrorists were not involved in the attack but that the attack was sparked by the YouTube video.

“On Sunday, December 29, 2013, the New York Times published a story concerning the Benghazi attacks that directly contradicts the sworn testimony of witnesses who appeared before various committees,” they wrote. “Besides the obvious New York Times editorial and political objectives of inoculating Hillary Clinton and her 2016 presidential campaign from further criticism of her failures as Secretary of State, the story contradicts objective truth and established facts in a way that confuses the public."

"Your inaction and failure to lead on the Benghazi investigation directly contributes to the repetition of lies; a lack of accountability from responsible government officials; and the political advancement of persons who seek to continue to ‘fundamentally transform’ the Constitution and our country," they accused. "The New York Times recent publication proves the Benghazi story is not ‘going away.’”

The group further argues that while Ahmed Abu Khattala, “a ringleader of the attack,” has “granted long interviews to reporters in Benghazi cafes,” the Obama administration’s federal law enforcement agencies have “done nothing.” Because of Boehner’s lack of willingness to aggressively investigate the terrorist attack, the coalition argues that no one has been held accountable. “Nearly 16 months after the terrorist attack, the American public has no accountability and no plan of action from House leadership,” they wrote. “The public is subjected to undisputed disinformation from a White House who calls the terror attack a ‘phony scandal.’"

"While the White House repeats false and misleading information, you continue to ignore claims, documented by Rep. Frank Wolf, of intelligence officers being intimidated with multiple, punitive polygraph examinations and harassing non-disclosure agreement demands," they claimed. "If Benghazi is ‘phony’ why are intelligence officers being threatened not to speak and subjected to polygraph exams? Why do you stand by passively?”

The coalition also questioned whether Boehner is holding up the investigation because he may be culpable for knowing certain pieces of information about the scandal. As Speaker of the House, Boehner is a member of what is called the “Super 8” in Congress. Other members include House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA); Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV); Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY); House Intelligence Committee Chairman and ranking member Reps. Mike Rogers (R-MI) and Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD), respectively; and Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and ranking member Saxby Chambliss (R-GA). Because of their seniority in Congress, the “Super 8” gets briefed on intelligence matters in a much more intensive manner than other members.

The coalition questions whether Boehner has “guilty knowledge” on Benghazi because of that, and wonders whether a complete investigation into Benghazi would jeopardize Boehner’s political future as Speaker of the House.

“Some analysts believe your inaction and passivity towards getting to the truth concerning Benghazi is because you were briefed on the intelligence and special operations activities in Libya as a member of the

‘Super 8,’” they wrote. “You may possess ‘guilty knowledge.’ We recall how then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi developed a form of ‘amnesia’ concerning a documented briefing she received on so-called ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ – later termed ‘torture’ for political purposes."

"Are you in the same position as your predecessor?" they asked. "Are you dodging a legitimate, thorough, coordinated investigation of Benghazi because it will damage your political position as Speaker?”

The coalition noted because no select committee with subpoena power has been installed, some members of the House GOP conference have taken to submitting Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to attempt to get information about Benghazi out of the administration. “You should be embarrassed that members of Congress, and your own party, are forced to file Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with Obama administration agencies to get basic information about the Benghazi issue,” the coalition wrote to Boehner.

“What a sad and pathetic statement about the operations of House standing committees looking into this tragedy that FOIA has become the last resort of even Republican Members seeking the truth!" the letter stated. "Are you concerned that the scattershot and untimely efforts of the various committees may actually be doing more harm than good at documenting facts? These are all examples of Republican leadership failures. How are you accountable?”

The coalition continued by criticizing the efforts of Rogers, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and one of Boehner’s right-hand men: “Rep. Mike Rogers and the Intelligence Committee seem to act as defense counsel for the Obama administration,” the coalition wrote. “A recent Intelligence Committee weekly update note stated as fact that no arms shipments were being run from Libya, and that no intelligence officers were being coerced not to speak. There is substantial evidence to the contrary on both counts."

"Why does Rep. Rogers parrot the discredited falsehoods of the so-called ‘Accountability Review Board’ (ARB)?" they accused. "Conflicting accounts, testimony and evidence need to be investigated – not dismissed or ignored. Don’t those contradictions and questions compel you, on behalf of the American people, to take any action to resolve the matter and get to the truth?”

The group asked Boehner why there “was thundering silence” from his office when Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) sent him a letter on Nov. 6 outlining outstanding unanswered questions about the scandal. “You have an opportunity to show strong leadership and resolve a national disgrace perpetrated by specific public officials,” they wrote. “You are failing.”

“Your reluctance to lead and resistance to create a Select Committee on Benghazi must end,” they wrote.

“More than 75% of all House Republicans – with the conspicuous absence of those in leadership or committee chairmen – have cosponsored Rep. Wolf’s Select Committee bill. Few bills in this Congress demonstrate such overwhelming support from Republicans."

"Additionally, the bill enjoys the support of national security advocacy groups, and the Wall Street Journal editorial board, among many others," they noted. "We urge you to bring the bill to the floor for a vote immediately to start effective oversight on this critical national security matter immediately. We have waited long enough. Your approach is not working.”

Specifically, the coalition demands that the select committee must complete its investigation before the end of the 113th Congress, which concludes at the end of 2014.

“Mr. Speaker, we call upon you to act now and create a Select Committee on Benghazi to investigate all aspects of the United States involvement in Libya, to include, but not be limited to the attacks of September 11, 2012,” they wrote. “It must now also include the protracted cover-up the American people, the families of the fallen and those with loved ones serving overseas have endured."

"The new committee must have subpoena power, capable staff and Members from both parties who are committed to finding the truth, not playing politics," the letter continued. "The Committee must be staffed with new, professional, qualified and experienced investigators. It must have resources to conduct a thorough, comprehensive investigation and issue an exhaustive report before this Congress adjourns.”

The full list of coalition letter signers includes: Adm. Jerome L. Johnson, USN Ret., former Vice Chief of Naval Operations; Lt. Gen. E.G. “Buck” Shuler, Jr., USAF, (Ret); Lt. Gen. Richard D. Lawrence, USA (Ret); LTG William G. Boykin, USA (Ret); Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely, USA Ret, Chairman, Stand Up America; Maj. Gen. Carroll D. Childers, USA (Ret), Ranger; Maj. Gen. Thomas F. Cole, USA (Ret); Maj. Gen. Richard M. Cooke, USMC (Ret); Amb. Henry F. Cooper, Former Director, Strategic Defense Initiative; LTC Allen B. West (US Army, Ret) former Congressman, FL; Capt Joseph R. John, USNA ‘62, USN (Ret), Chairman, Combat Veterans For Congress PAC; Debra Burlingame, Co-founder, 9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America; Elaine Donnelly, President, Center for Military Readiness; Dick Brauer, Col, USAF (Ret), Special Operation Speaks; Tom Fitton, President, Judicial Watch; Allen Roth, Secure America Now; Joel A. Arends, Veterans for a Strong America; Ginni Thomas, President, Liberty Consulting; Catherine Engelbrecht, President, True the Vote; Anita MonCrief, Black Voters Alliance; David Wallace, Restore America's Mission; Dr. James Pollock, Maj., USAF (Ret), OIF VETx2, SOCOM, Wounded Warrior Congressional Advocate; John J. Molloy, Chairman, National Vietnam & Gulf War Veterans Coalition; James C. Harding, Col USAF (Ret) National Spokesman for Veteran Defenders of America; Diane M. Sendlenski, Veteran US Air Force, Special Operations Speaks Coordinator; John G. B. Howland, Publisher, USNA-At-Large; Katherine Cornell Gorka, Executive Director, The Westminster Institute; Paul Caprio, Executive Director, Family Pac Federal; William L. Walton, Chairman, Rappahannock Ventures LLC; Sandy Rios, Director of Governmental Affairs, American Family Association; David Horowitz, President, Freedom Center; Peter Thomas, Chairman, The Conservative Caucus; Rear Adm. Hugh P. Scott, MC, USN (Ret); Rear Adm. Bill McDaniel, USN (Ret); Rear Adm. John A. Moriarty, USN, (Ret); Rear Adm. Robert B. McClinton, USN (Ret); Rear Adm. Don G. Primeau, USN (Ret); Brig. Gen. Michael Neil, USMCR (Ret); Brig. Gen. Francis Hughes, USA (Ret); Brig. Gen. John Zierdt, Jr., USA (Ret); Brig. Gen. Michael T. Byrnes, USA (Ret); Brig. Gen. William A. Bloomer, USMC (Ret); Captain Kenneth Rauch, USN (Ret); Captain Peter A. Hewett, JAGC, U.S. Navy (Ret); Captain James Knight, USN (Ret); Captain Roger W. Barnett, USN (Ret); Captain Gregory Streeter, USN (Ret) USNA ’58; Col. G. Huntington Banister, USA (Ret), and former Acting Director, Selective Service System, 1994; Col. S. Badiner, USMC (Ret); Col. Gregory G. Raths, USMC (Ret); Col. Joseph V. Potter, USAF (Ret); Col. Rob Maness, USAF (Ret), U.S. Senate Candidate 2014, R-Louisiana; Dan Bongino, 2012 Republican Nominee for US Senate, MD; Lt. Col. Ken Benway, USA (Ret); Lt. Col. Dennis B. Haney, USAF (Ret); CDR Randolph J. Horhutz, USNA '61, SC, USN (Ret); Everett Woolum, CMSGT, USAF (Ret); Gregory J. Rose, USNA ’73; Thomas Corboy, USNA, ’61; Anthony R. Papandrea, USNA ’61; Raymond H. Clary, Jr., USNA ’65; John W. Slagle, U.S. Navy Aviation veteran (Ret) Special Agent U.S.B.P. Anti-Smuggling Unit; Sarah Folger White, Former Presidential Commissioner; Dick and Patricia Schermerhorn, Appleton, WI; Lee Boyland, Author, former military officer, entrepreneur, nuclear engineer; Susan Creed Percy, Advocate for Military Families; Dave Hollenbeck, retired CA Highway Patrol; Paul F. Wirtz, Military family, OH resident; John Lillywhite, U.S. Citizen; Gene Andrews, U.S. Citizen; Mrs. Nancy Olbert, Supervisor Criminal Advocates, Daytona, FL State Attorney Office; Dr. Frank Ingels, Military Defense Consultant, MSIC/TETRA Office; Robert M. Trent, Senior Special Agent, USINS and former Marine and Vietnam combat veteran; and Kelly Monroe Kullberg, Christians for a Sustainable Economy; OH resident.

Big Government

Boehner: I Don't Need GOP to Pass Gun Law...

by Ben Shapiro 11 Apr 2013 

  On Thursday, in the midst of ongoing national debate over prospective gun control and comprehensive immigration legislation, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said that he didn’t need the approval of a majority of his own party to move forward with legislation. Referring to the so-called Hastert Rule, named after former House Speaker Denny Hastert (R-IL), which dictated that House leadership not bring up any bill for a vote without the support of a majority of the majority party, Boehner said, “Listen: It was never a rule to begin with.”

Then, realizing the gravity of admitting that he could move without a majority of his own party, Boehner added, “And certainly my prerogative – my intention is to always pass bills with strong Republican support.”

That may be his intention, but it has not been his history. On the fiscal cliff deal at the end of 2012, for example, he ignored a majority of his own party. That prompted a mini-rebellion in the House resulting in a supposedly humbled Boehner retaining his speakership. Should he buck the House Republicans again, he may face a stiffer challenge this time.

Ben Shapiro is Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the New York Times bestseller “Bullies: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences America” (Threshold Editions, January 8, 2013).

BigGovernment

House Gop Leaders: We Can Pass Gun Control, Immigration, Without Republican Support

by Ben Shapiro 10 Mar 2013
 

 With more and more conservatives in the House rebelling against John Boehner’s increasingly questionable Speakership, Republican House leadership is now moving to quash in-house concerns by reaching across the aisle for support. Leadership is moving in the wake of a surprising move by 16 House Republicans to vote against a Republican leadership-crafted closed rule on a government funding bill. The rule was designed to limit amendments to the government funding bill, but some House conservatives, concerned over the Boehner team’s refusal to consider a floor vote on an amendment to defund Obamacare implementation, bucked Boehner on the rule. After undergoing that unpleasant shock, House leadership hasn’t responded by listening to the concerns of the more conservative members of its caucus. Instead, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said on Sunday that he would be open to ramming through bills without the support of a majority of his own Republican caucus. Not just on small bills. On issues like immigration and gun control, McCarthy said, he’d be open to taking rogue Republicans across the aisle to work with Democrats.

“It is better if the House does their work,” said McCarthy. “We should be sending bills to the Senate.” As CNN host Candy Crowley pointed out, McCarthy refused to give a straight answer on whether he would continue to uphold the so-called Hastert Rule, under which Republican leadership moves forward with bills only if they have a majority of Republican support.

This is a declaration of war within the Republican ranks. And it should be deeply troubling to Republicans across the country, watching as the recently and controversially reminted House leadership continues to pursue the same political philosophy that led to a mini-rebellion in the House in January.

Big Government

Ben Shapiro is Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the book “Bullies: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences America” (Threshold Editions, January 8, 2013).

Only 16 Members Can Unseat Boehner, Group Says

by Matthew Boyle 5 Dec 2012
 

 The president and CEO of conservative group American Majority Action (AMA) is demanding Republicans band together to fire House Speaker John Boehner. “Speaker Boehner has been an abysmal failure as speaker, and his latest purge is the nail in the coffin for conservatives,” AMA’s Ned Ryun said in a statement.

“Boehner has never won a negation battle with the White House or Senate—and he’s been nothing short of an embarrassing spokesman for the Conservative Movement. It’s time for him to go.”

Ryun pointed out, too, that if conservatives want to unseat Boehner, they’d only need 16 members to abstain from supporting him in January. That’s because Boehner needs 218 votes to become Speaker again. Seeing as there are 233 House Republicans next Congress, and assuming no Democrats would vote for Boehner as Speaker, if 16 conservative Republicans abstain from voting, Boehner wouldn’t regain the Speakership.

“The Conservative Movement doesn’t realize we only need 16 House votes to block Boehner from becoming Speaker,” Ryun said. “House rules demand nominees for speaker to receive a majority—at least 218 votes—to win election. If 16 members abstain, Boehner only has 217 votes.”

The Republican caucus already locked the votes for leadership slots up in conference shortly after the election, but it has to be made official at the beginning of the next Congress in January. That means conservatives upset with Boehner’s leadership technically could band together to ouster him.

After this week’s Boehner purge of conservatives from influential committee roles, enough Republicans might be perturbed enough to do something about it – especially with Boehner threatening retaliation against more than just the four conservatives he’s already yanked from their committee spots if anyone else doesn’t toe the leadership line.

Big Government

GOP Rep: Boehner May 'Target' More Conservatives

by Matthew Boyle 5 Dec 2012
 

 House Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday warned his House Republican conference against dissent from GOP leadership – and threatened retaliation similar to that against the already-purged conservatives if anyone else breaks from his pack. The Hill reports that, according to Kansas Republican Rep. Tim Huelskamp, Boehner used his weekly GOP conference meeting to “note that we [leadership] have punished four members, he claimed that it had nothing to do with their conservative ideology, but had to do with their voting patterns."

Huelskamp also said Boehner threatened “there may be more folks that will be targeted” and that Boehner told the caucus that “‘we're watching all your votes.’”

It’s unclear what criteria Boehner and GOP leadership plan to use in the weeks and months ahead. Boehner spokesman Michael Steel wouldn’t provide specifics on what criteria or votes on which the Speaker is “watching” conservative Republicans. Instead, when asked, Steel provided Breitbart News with the exact quote another Boehner spokesman gave two nights ago for a response to a completely different question.

“The Steering Committee makes decisions based on a range of factors,” Steel said.

Huelskamp is one of the four conservatives purged from committee assignments from which he would be able to affect fiscal policy. He was pulled from the House Budget Committee and House Agriculture Committee. Michigan Republican Rep. Justin Amash was pulled from the Budget Committee too, and Reps. David Schweikert of Arizona and Walter Jones of North Carolina were removed from the House Financial Services Committee.

Huelskamp also addressed the GOP caucus on Wednesday and said he received “warm reception from some and silence from others.” He asked GOP leadership to publicly provide "that list of votes used in the Steering Committee to reward or punish members."

As first reported by Breitbart News, GOP leadership – Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, and Whip Kevin McCarthy – used a secret criteria list to decide which members to cut. Officials in each of their offices refuse to discuss the details of the list on the record with press and they refuse to publish it, so it’s unclear what criteria they used. It’s also unclear which figures in leadership sparked this process and what specific roles each official involved played.

At first, GOP leadership tried to pin at least part of the blame on the chairmen of the respective committees from which they pulled each member – Budget Committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan and incoming Financial Services Committee chairman Rep. Jeb Hensarling. While a spokesman for Ryan hasn’t returned multiple requests for comment on the purge, a spokeswoman for Hensarling on Wednesday told Breitbart News that her boss had nothing to do with the purge.

The story from House GOP leadership keeps changing. On Wednesday afternoon, BuzzFeed reported – citing anonymous leadership aides – that there were different loyalty issues with each of the members. That’s a sharp departure from what Boehner had just told his caucus in its weekly meeting and what GOP leadership aides have told press at the beginning of this controversy.

“Huelskamp and Amash have repeatedly been thorns in the side of leadership, and in some cases their colleagues — in fact, one aide pointed out that Huelskamp voted against Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget,” BuzzFeed wrote. “And Schweikert engendered significant anger amongst elements of leadership during his reelection bid against fellow Republican Ben Quayle. He is also widely considered by leadership to be the source of an embarrassing story this summer about Republican members’ drunken swimming session in the Sea of Galilee.”

“Schweikert, notably, was also ousted from Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy’s Whip Team last year because of concerns with his loyalty,” BuzzFeed added. “The Whip team is a key organ of leadership, designed to help round up support amongst Republicans for bills coming to the floor. A Republican aide also pointed to the fact that Rep. Walter Jones, a North Carolina Republican who has consistently broken with leadership over the war, was replaced on the Financial Services Committee by Rep. Mick Mulvaney, a protégé of Sen. Jim DeMint and one of the most conservative members of the House.”

What those leadership aides told BuzzFeed after widespread conservative backlash directly contradicts what leadership aides told Roll Call about the purge before they faced any criticism. “You want good things in Congress and to have a good career? Better play along nicely,” a leadership aide told Roll Call.

Big Government

Club for Growth to Boehner: Release Criteria List Used in Purge

by Matthew Boyle 5 Dec 2012
 

 The conservative Club for Growth called on House Speaker John Boehner and his leadership team to release the thus-far secret criteria list used to purge conservative members from influential committee slots.

“Conservatives want to know if the Republican leadership is more interested in helping their cronies and friends or in advancing conservative policy on the Hill,” Club for Growth President Chris Chocola said in a Wednesday afternoon statement. “The Club for Growth frequently ranks members of Congress based on their commitment to economic freedom, and we post all of the votes we use on our website for the world to see. The House Republican Steering Committee should do the same.”

“The Club for Growth PAC stands ready to make sure that Republican primary voters are also watching the voting patterns of the big government crowd in the House GOP,” Chocola added.
Breitbart News first reported the existence of a secret list of criteria – likely including a series of votes tallied up to make a scorecard of sorts. GOP leadership refuses to discuss the details of the document and won’t release it to the public.

Big Government