Benghazi moment

Clinton's Benghazi moment arrives

Panel Chairman Trey Gowdy began the hearing with a defense of his investigation, while Clinton said the U.S. needed a presence in Libya. 

By Rachael Bade

House Benghazi Chairman Trey Gowdy opened this high-stakes hearing with Hillary Clinton by offering a defense of his investigation and panel, assuring Clinton that his probe is not centered on her, but also blaming her in part for the fact that his investigation has dragged on for a year and a half.

Clinton, meanwhile, defended her decision to have diplomats in war-torn Libya, saying the U.S. cannot shy away from dangerous areas just because of the risks. As she entered the hearing room just before 10 a.m., Clinton took time to shake the hands of all the Republican and Democratic lawmakers in attendance.

And just before the public proceedings began, Clinton was allowed to be sworn in in private.

Eighteen months after House Republicans first convened the Select Committee on Benghazi, Gowdy is finally facing off with the former Secretary of State-turned-2016 White House contender.

But his first move was to respond to critics alleging he's out to get Clinton in the polls.

“Madame Secretary, I understand some people — frankly in both parties — have suggested this investigation is about you. Let me assure you it is not,” Gowdy's opening statement said. “Not a single member of this Committee signed up for an investigation into you or your email system. We signed up because we wanted to honor the service and sacrifice of four people sent to a foreign land to represent us — who were killed — and do everything we can to prevent it from happening to others.

He also blamed Clinton’s unusual personal email arrangement for the fact that his investigation has taken 18 months. The State Department only realized it did not have Clinton's emails after they requested documents, triggering a lengthy process by which the department had to ask her and her top aides who also sometimes used private email for work purposes to turn them over.

“You had an unusual email arrangement with yourself, which meant the State Department could not produce your emails to us,” he said. “When you left the State Department you kept those public records to yourself for almost two years….Those decisions were your decisions, not ours… It just took longer to get them and garnered more attention in the process.

For her part, Clinton planned to open the hearing by arguing that despite the tragedy in Benghazi, the U.S. must continue to be present in dangerous corners of the world — and shrinking away from places such as Libya would have dire consequences, creating power vacuums that could put the homeland at greater risk.

Slain U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, who died in the attack, she reminded them, was a believer in this idea that diplomats can’t conduct work from bunkers and that bettering U.S. foreign policy interests requires diplomats going, sometimes, where the U.S. military is not.

The proceedings got under way at 10 a.m. And staff have said the hearing could easily last until 8 p.m. or 9 p.m.

Gowdy also used his opening statement to respond to criticism that his panel is a waste of taxpayer money and is simply covering ground that’s already been trod by a half-dozen committee investigations — and State’s own internal investigation. He said those were too “narrow” and “not thorough” and listed the new documents he’s received from the CIA, FBI, Defense State and White House interviewed eyewitnesses he’s talked to, emails

He criticized the Accountability Review Board saying State “handpicked members” and never interviewed Clinton, arguing that such a review is “not independent… not a serious investigation.”

“If those previous congressional investigations really were serious and thorough, how did they miss Ambassador Stevens' emails? If those investigations were serious and thorough, how did they miss Secretary Clinton's emails?" Gowdy asked.

For Clinton, a botched performance could be easy fodder for GOP campaign ads – if not move national polls. But Gowdy also has to tread carefully – his panel’s reputation is on the line after weeks of Democratic accusations that the committee is a partisan charade aimed at hurting Clinton.

Republicans, led by Gowdy, a former South Carolina federal prosecutor, are expected to grill Clinton on everything from the security situation at the Benghazi diplomatic compound to her controversial private email server.

Panel Democrats, meanwhile, will try to discredit any accusations lobbed against her while a 30-person-strong, pro-Clinton war room at Correct the Record will monitor the hearing and fire off real-time press releases defending their presidential candidate.

And Clinton has some ground to make up with voters when it comes to the Benghazi attack. A new NBC/WSJ poll out Tuesday shows Americans, by a 2-to-1 margin are unhappy with Clinton’s response to the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, which left four Americans — including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens — dead.

Clinton is also sure to face questions about her unusual email setup at State, where she eschewed a government account and used her own, personal email account and server. That server was discovered following document requests from the Benghazi panel – and the FBI is currently investigating whether the setup led to the mishandling of classified information.

But Gowdy, who has conducted all of his panel’s interviews in private, is now under pressure to show he’s uncovered something new that the previous half-dozen congressional investigations into the attacks have not.

The pressure on Gowdy spiked in late September when Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) bragged on Fox News that the committee has hurt Clinton in the polls. A week later, a former GOP investigator who had been fired from the committee in June claimed that the panel had set its sights on Clinton after news of her private server broke in March.

Democrats seized on those statements and unloaded on panel Republicans for conducting a partisan operation.

So Gowdy and Republicans have spent the past couple weeks downplaying Clinton’s role in their investigation, calling her “just another witness” and vowing that they’re trying to get to the bottom of what happened in Libya — regardless of Clinton’s presidential aspirations. Gowdy told POLITICO in an interview over the weekend that the attacks on his credibility have made the past week one of the worst in his life — surpassing even death threats he received as a federal prosecutor.

Although Gowdy and some of his colleagues like Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) have reputations for being tough on witnesses, they’ve promised to keep a professional demeanor and avoid attack-dog tactics. But they’re also expected to press Clinton with tough questions about her general hopes and dreams for Libya after the fall of Muammar Qadhafi.

Republicans may also try to pin her down on why she was not aware of numerous requests for additional security by her diplomats in Libya. A 1999 report after the East African embassy bombings recommended that the secretary of State take a “personal and active role” in security issues, Republicans — including Gowdy — have noted.

And they’re expected to draw upon a series of new Stevens emails showing the ambassador asking for more protection — while Clinton’s top aides in Washington were allegedly asking him for guidance on public relations efforts.

An internal State Department investigation, known as the Accountability Review Board, found that security at the Benghazi mission was sorely lacking. The ARB, however, did not find anyone had breached his or her duty, and blamed bad communication and a lack of funding that led State to try to cut corners.

Republicans will also inquire about a number of Libya-related Clinton emails they say they’ve asked for but that Clinton never provided to State. They only discovered them because longtime Clinton ally Sid Blumenthal, who had been sending her advice on Libya and unsubstantiated intelligence form Libya sources, turned them over to the panel under subpoena.

Blumenthal, who had business interests in Libya and often encouraged Clinton to go bold in Libya, will also come up in the hearing. The committee recently released excerpts from new Clinton emails suggesting Blumenthal at one point in the summer of 2011 told her about his business links there, after encouraging her to use her position to ensure that the fragile new Libyan government would work with American companies as opposed to the French, for example.

Clinton has said Blumenthal’s advice was “unsolicited” — an assertion Republicans are expected to challenge.

The broader issue of her private email account is also likely to surface, and Republicans are expected to ask her whether she has turned over all her work emails, as is required by law.

Clinton, a skilled witness, is expected to maintain a professional manner during the hearing. She successfully navigated a politically charged congressional hearing on Benghazi in January 2013 –while recovering from a concussion and a blood clot.

Should Republicans get overheated, cut Clinton off, or try to corner her with loaded questions, Democrats said they will be ready to use their time to let her speak and set the record straight. In that regard they’ll be her first line of defense when the cameras are rolling.