Political Wire

  • Front Page
  • Members
    • Subscribe
    • Members FAQ
    • Sign In
    • Exclusive Analysis
    • My Favorites
  • Resources
    • Political Calendar
    • Political Job Hunt
    • Political Dictionary
    • Electoral Vote Map
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us
You are here: Home / Archives for Benghazi

Benghazi Committee Shuts Down

December 12, 2016 at 4:17 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The special congressional investigation into the 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi is officially over now that the panel filed its final report the day before the House adjourned for the year,” USA Today reports.

“The Select Committee on Benghazi initially released its findings in June but remained in place for months afterward trying to declassify supporting documents like emails and interview transcripts for public release… The panel, which spent more than $7.8 million over two and a half years, disbanded at the end of the 114th Congress, before a new Congress begins in January.”

Filed Under: Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives Tagged With: Benghazi

Chris Stevens’ Sister Doesn’t Blame Clinton

June 29, 2016 at 12:09 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Anne Stevens, the sister of ambassador Chris Stevens who was killed in Benghazi, Libya in 2012, told the New Yorker that she does not blame Hillary Clinton for his death.

Said Stevens: “I do not blame Hillary Clinton or Leon Panetta. They were balancing security efforts at embassies and missions around the world. And their staffs were doing their best to provide what they could with the resources they had. The Benghazi Mission was understaffed. We know that now. But, again, Chris knew that. It wasn’t a secret to him. He decided to take the risk to go there. It is not something they did to him. It is something he took on himself.”

She added that it is “inappropriate” she to make Benghazi an election issue.

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign, Foreign Affairs Tagged With: Benghazi, Chris Stevens

GOP Lawmaker Says Clinton Tricked Benghazi Committee

November 17, 2015 at 1:32 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 108 Comments

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA), a member of the House Select Committee On Benghazi, said Hillary Clinton laid “a trap” for the committee by making her Oct. 22 appearance go “as long as possible,” BuzzFeed News reports.

Said Westmoreland: “As you know, some of you may have watched the marathon Hillary Clinton fiasco, and I say that because Trey Gowdy, the chairman of the committee, wanted to interview her in private, and she said, ‘No, I want to do this in public.’ Now to me, that was us stepping in a trap because we should have known that she was going to go on and just stall, debate, filibuster, on these answers to make it go as long as possible, so we would look cruel.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign, Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives Tagged With: Benghazi, Hillary Clinton, Lynn Westmoreland

Unlock Political Wire for more.

Join for as low as $6 per month. Learn more.

Already a member? Sign in here.

 

Worse Than the Benghazi Committee?

October 29, 2015 at 4:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 16 Comments

David Roberts: “The Benghazi committee is not even the worst committee in the House. I’d argue that the House science committee, under the chairmanship of Lamar Smith (R-TX), deserves that superlative for its open-ended, Orwellian attempts to intimidate some of the nation’s leading scientists and scientific institutions.”

“The science committee’s modus operandi is similar to the Benghazi committee’s — sweeping, catchall investigations, with no specific allegations of wrongdoing or clear rationale, searching through private documents for out-of-context bits and pieces to leak to the press, hoping to gain short-term political advantage — but it stands to do more lasting long-term damage.”

Filed Under: Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives Tagged With: Benghazi

The GOP Benghazi Train Wreck

October 27, 2015 at 8:35 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 26 Comments

Charlie Cook: “Two of the worst sins in polit­ics are to be­come ob­sessed with pla­cat­ing your party’s base and to be­come con­sumed with hat­ing your op­pon­ent. This cer­tainly isn’t the first time a party has en­gaged in one or both self-de­struct­ive activ­it­ies, and it won’t be the last. The ques­tion is wheth­er the Re­pub­lic­an Party is squan­der­ing the power­ful time-for-a-change dy­nam­ic, which should be work­ing to its ad­vant­age this year, by com­ing across as a party that is un­worthy of be­ing en­trus­ted with all three branches of our fed­er­al gov­ern­ment.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign, Republicans Tagged With: Benghazi

Americans Lose Patience With Both Sides on Benghazi

October 22, 2015 at 7:51 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 75 Comments

“Majorities in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll disapprove of the way Hillary Clinton has handled questions about the attacks and her conduct using a personal e-mail server while secretary of state.”

“But a nearly equal majority identify the Republican-led investigation into the events as a politically motivated attempt to damage the former secretary of state rather than an effort to raise legitimate concerns.”

A new CNN/ORC poll finds that 75% of Americans believe the House committee investigating the Benghazi attacks is using that investigation for political gain.

Filed Under: Foreign Affairs Tagged With: Benghazi

Clinton Super PAC Will Run Benghazi Ad

October 19, 2015 at 4:52 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 11 Comments

The super PAC supporting Hillary Clinton “will advertise on television for the first time in the 2016 presidential campaign, running an ad for two days in the first four early nominating states before her congressional testimony Thursday on the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya,” the New York Times reports.

“The ad has not been released. But the ad buy, expected to cost six figures, will run on cable networks in New Hampshire, Iowa, Nevada and South Carolina.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign Tagged With: Benghazi, Hillary Clinton

Clinton Seeks Boost from Benghazi Hearing

October 19, 2015 at 7:25 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 22 Comments

Bloomberg: “Despite all the risks that come with hours of nationally televised questioning before a Republican-led congressional panel, the Democratic front-runner and her team are looking forward to Thursday’s hearing as a key turning point that will help solidify the momentum she’s built since last week’s debate.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign, Foreign Affairs Tagged With: Benghazi, Hillary Clinton

Gowdy Tells Fellow Republicans to ‘Shut Up’

October 18, 2015 at 11:27 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 38 Comments

Frustrated by a series of gaffes on the Benghazi Committee, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) told Face the Nation that his fellow Republicans to “shut up” if they weren’t directly briefed on the committee’s activities.

Said Gowdy: “These are three people who don’t have any idea what they’re talking about.”

Filed Under: House of Representatives Tagged With: Benghazi, Trey Gowdy

Another GOP Lawmaker Says Benghazi Committee Is About Politics

October 15, 2015 at 9:19 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 39 Comments

Rep. Richard Hanna (R-NY) said the House Select Committee on Benghazi “was designed to go after people and an individual, Hillary Clinton,” CNN reports.

Hanna invoked House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) comments: “After what Kevin McCarthy said, it’s difficult to accept at least a part of it was not. I think that’s the way Washington works. But you’d like to expect more from a committee that’s spent millions of dollars and tons of time.”

Filed Under: Foreign Affairs Tagged With: Benghazi, Richard Hanna

Ex-Staffer Says Gowdy Broke Federal Law

October 12, 2015 at 4:18 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 98 Comments

“The legal battle between the House Benghazi Committee and its former investigator, Todd Podliska, escalated Monday afternoon, when Podliska’s lawyers alleged that Chairman Trey Gowdy violated government confidentiality rules and federal law,” MSNBC reports.

Filed Under: House of Representatives Tagged With: Benghazi

GOP Staffer Fired from Benghazi Committee

October 11, 2015 at 6:30 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 10 Comments

“A Republican staffer from the House Select Committee on Benghazi has been fired after he says he developed concerns about the politicized nature of the panel’s investigation,” the Washington Post reports.

“The criticism from an experienced Republican intelligence investigator comes amid growing Democratic Party complaints that the special committee was on a mission to undermine former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton and her bid for the presidency.”

Filed Under: Foreign Affairs Tagged With: Benghazi

McCarthy Tries to Walk Back Benghazi Comments

October 2, 2015 at 9:22 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 41 Comments

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) appeared on Fox News to walk back his comments that House Benghazi Committee was about taking down Hillary Clinton’s approval rating.

Said McCarthy :”This committee was set up for one sole purpose, to find the truth on behalf of the families of four dead Americans. Now I did not intend to imply in any way that that work was political. Of course it is not, look at the way they have carried themselves out. The point I was trying to make and I want to be very clear about this, I wasn’t saying the committee was political, that committee is solely to get the truth out.”

But as First Read notes, the Republican Party’s House campaign arm, ran the following fundraising solicitation yesterday: “You’re now a Benghazi Watchdog. Let’s go after Obama and Hillary Clinton. Help us fight them now.” It’s since been deleted.

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign Tagged With: Benghazi, Hillary Clinton, Kevin McCarthy

McCarthy Hands Clinton Gift By Undermining Hearings

October 2, 2015 at 6:59 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 43 Comments

Hillary Clinton’s “upcoming appearance before the U.S. House Select Committee on Benghazi was supposed to be a crucible: a chance for Republicans to prosecute the former secretary of state for her handling of the 2012 terrorist attacks that killed four Americans as well as for her use of a private e-mail server,” the Washington Post reports.

“Instead, it may have turned into a political gift for Clinton following this week’s suggestion by the likely next House speaker, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), that the taxpayer-funded Benghazi investigation was politically motivated. Clinton’s allies say his comments will help recast Clinton’s scheduled Oct. 22 hearing as a partisan inquisition rather than a fact-finding mission about the attacks in Libya.”

“McCarthy boasted in two television interviews on Tuesday that the committee’s work already had achieved a desired result: Clinton’s decline in the polls.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign Tagged With: Benghazi, Hillary Clinton, Kevin McCarthy

GOP Will Drag Benghazi Investigation Into 2016

May 9, 2015 at 8:34 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 23 Comments

Hillary Clinton “has agreed to testify before the Benghazi committee this month but don’t expect Republicans to be satisfied with her appearance,” The Hill reports.

“House Republicans have now spent a full year investigating the 2012 terrorist attacks in Libya — including whether any of the former secretary of State’s actions may have contributed to the incident — and there are few indications there will be a speedy conclusion to their inquiries.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign Tagged With: Benghazi, Hillary Clinton

Clinton Will Testify on Benghazi, Email Server

May 5, 2015 at 7:21 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 21 Comments

Hillary Clinton “has agreed to testify before the House Select Committee on Benghazi later this month, according to a letter from her attorney to the panel’s chairman, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC),” CNN reports.

“Gowdy asked Clinton, the former Secretary of State and now presidential candidate, testify before the committee twice — once on her private email server and once on the 2012 attacks in Benghazi that killed four Americans. But David Kendall, Clinton’s lawyer, said Clinton would testify once on both topics, on a day designated by the committee during the week of May 18th or later.”

Filed Under: House of Representatives Tagged With: Benghazi

Clinton Benghazi Emails Provide Rare Glimpse

March 23, 2015 at 3:18 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 5 Comments

New York Times: “The roughly 300 emails from Mrs. Clinton’s private account that were turned over last month to a House committee investigating the attack showed the secretary and her aides closely monitoring the fallout from the tragedy, which threatened to damage her image and reflect poorly on the State Department.”

“They provided no evidence that Mrs. Clinton, as the most incendiary Republican attacks have suggested, issued a ‘stand down’ order to halt American forces responding to the violence in Benghazi, or took part in a broad cover-up of the administration’s response, according to senior American officials.”

“But they did show that Mrs. Clinton’s top aides at times corresponded with her about State Department matters from their personal email accounts, raising questions about her recent assertions that she made it her practice to email aides at their government addresses so the messages would be preserved, in compliance with federal record-keeping regulations.”

Filed Under: Clinton Legacy Tagged With: Benghazi, Hillary Clinton

Paul Says Benghazi Should Disqualify Clinton

February 26, 2015 at 8:12 am EST By Taegan Goddard 116 Comments

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) told Katie Couric that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to blame for the 2012 terror attack on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi and that her failure to “defend our ambassador,” should “preclude her from even being considered for the higher office.”

Said Paul: “The biggest mistake Hillary Clinton made, and think this will be an albatross over her neck for the rest of the campaign, I don’t think she’ll be able to overcome this, is that when she was asked to provide security for Benghazi, she didn’t do it.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign Tagged With: Benghazi, Hillary Clinton, Rand Paul

  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »


Classified Ads

☑️ Strikingly is the fastest way to build your own website. No coding or design experience needed. It's ridiculously easy.

July 31

☑️ The Almanac of American Politics 2022 is the gold standard of accessible political information, relied on by everyone involved, invested or interested in politics in America.

July 1

Place an ad.

Your Account

Sign in

Latest for Members

  • The Last Time a Third Party Candidate Won
  • The Supreme Court Will Rule on Democracy Itself

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Praise for Political Wire

“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”

— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”

“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”

— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report

“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”

— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report

“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”

— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia

“Political Wire is a great, great site.”

— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”

“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”

— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post

“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”

— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit

“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”

— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.

Copyright © 2022 · Goddard Media LLC | Privacy Policy

Political Wire ® is a registered trademark of Goddard Media LLC