Wingnut Week In Review: Benghazi Boondoggle Goes Bust

Terrance Heath

After spending $4.5 million on yet another Benghazi investigation, and questioning Hillary Clinton for eleven hours, the GOP’s latest Benghazi hearing leaves one major question unanswered: Did they forget who they were messing with?

Seriously. Given how long Clinton has been in politics, and survived everything conservatives have thrown at her, what did House Republicans think they were going to get out of this most recent hearing about the 2012 attack on the US embassy in Benghazi, Libya. Even before Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) let slip that the GOP’s ongoing investigation was a politically driven attempt to hurt Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, Republicans were at a disadvantage.

Republicans have investigated the Clintons for decades. The only time they came close to laying a glove on the Clintons, they had to settle for a sex scandal. Their impeachment of Bill Clinton only succeeded in boosting Republicans’ disapproval rating from 52 to 58 percent. None of their other investigations yielded anything.

None of the congressional committees that investigated Benghazi have come up with anything, despite right-wing media politicizing the attacks for three years.

On Thursday, Republicans hauled Hillary Clinton in front of yet another congressional committee on Benghazi. Here’s what we got.

When it was over, a noticeably sweating Rep. Gowdy was forced to admit that his hearing turned up no new information. As a former prosecutor, Gowdy should hang his head. It’s difficult to imagine that in his former life he’d proceed to trial with a case so weak and lacking in evidence.

Three years, ten congressional investigations, 32 congressional hearings, 204 witnesses, 11 published reports, and $20 million ($4.5 million for Gowdy’s committee alone) has yielded no findings of wrongdoing, no evidence of an intelligence failure leading up to the attacks, and no evidence of a stand down order.

No wonder congressional Democrats say that Republicans should foot the $4.5 million bill for this waste of time and tax-payer dollars. In the end, it’s an expensive embarrassment for the GOP, and the Clinton campaign’s longest television spot so far.

For Hillary Clinton, the hearing is best summed up by this Vine.

Paul Ryan’s Conditions

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) agreed to run for speaker as long as House Republicans agreed to his list of conditions, which included unconditional support from the right-wing Freedom Caucus, making it harder to oust a sitting speaker, and having more time to spend with his family. (This, from the guy who repeatedly voted against paid family leave for everyone else.) Hardline House Republican’s were less than amused, but Twitter had a lot of fun with #PaulRyanConditions.

 

Here’s the best of the rest of the worst in wingnuttia this week.

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