Issa Statement on Select Committee on Benghazi

WASHINGTON – Today, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., released the following statement on the announcement that Speaker Boehner intends to establish a House select committee to investigate the September 11, 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi:

“Ongoing White House obstruction has repeatedly delayed and impaired efforts to get to the bottom of what occurred before, during, and after the terrorist attack that killed four Americans in Benghazi. Access to the interagency decision making process, including the White House, is critical to understanding what occurred. Empowering a Select Committee that has subpoena power, full access to information about intelligence sources and methods, as well as classified details about why – as Brigadier General Robert Lovell testified yesterday – the military was constrained in its ability to come to the aid of Americans under attack will shed fuller light on the truth.

“The Oversight Committee still expects Secretary Kerry to appear subject to subpoena on May 21. He is still legally responsible for producing material responsive to the three document subpoenas issued by the Oversight Committee. I support Speaker Boehner’s decision and will work to share the insight we have learned at the Oversight Committee and encourage sources who have been in contact with our Committee to also cooperate with the new Select Committee.”

The Oversight Committee has held four public hearings on the Benghazi attacks on October 10, 2012, May 8, 2013, September 19, 2013, and May 1, 2014.