GOP: ‘Move on’ from Benghazi? Not likely

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Hillary Clinton says it’s “time to move on” after a congressional report on the deadly 2012 Benghazi attacks accused the Obama administration of lethal mistakes, but produced no new evidence pointing to wrongdoing by the former secretary of state.

Not likely, especially in an election year with Clinton’s presidential rival – Donald Trump – lashing out.

An 800-page report by a special House committee makes no direct accusations of wrongdoing by Clinton, who was secretary of state during the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks that killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens.

Still, Republicans point to Benghazi as a major failure by the administration and by Clinton during her tenure leading the State Department. The issue is likely to shadow Clinton as she continues her bid for president.

“Four Americans died, yet no one has been fired. No one even missed a paycheck,” said Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “Americans – including all our men and women serving overseas – deserve better.”

Clinton, now the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, said the report by Republicans on the House Benghazi Committee took more than two years and $7 million but “found nothing to contradict” the findings of earlier investigations.

“I think it’s pretty clear it’s time to move on,” Clinton said Tuesday.

Republicans were not ready to let the issue go, especially with an election that will decide who occupies the White House and which party will control the House and Senate. The Benghazi panel has scheduled a July 8 meeting to formally adopt the report – 10 days before the Republican National Convention begins in Cleveland.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte, a New Hampshire Republican facing a tough re-election race, said the administration “ignored a deteriorating security situation” in Benghazi, “and the State Department disregarded repeated requests for increased security.”

Trump said on Twitter that “Benghazi is just another Hillary Clinton failure. It just never seems to work the way it’s supposed to with Clinton.”