Distressing

Clinton on McCarthy: 'Deeply distressing'

By Eliza Collins

Hillary Clinton finds House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s comments that credit the Benghazi investigation for her dropping poll numbers “deeply distressing.”

On Tuesday when McCarthy, who is currently aiming to take over John Boehner’s house speakership, was asked by Fox News’ Sean Hannity to list positive examples of GOP leadership, he chose to talk about the investigation from the House Select Committee on Benghazi.

“Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable right? But we put together a Benghazi Special Committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping," McCarthy said. "Why? Cause she’s untrustable. But no one would have known any of that had happened had we not fought and made that happen.”

“When I hear a statement like that, which demonstrates unequivocally that this was always meant to be a partisan political exercise,” Clinton said in an interview with Rev. Al Sharpton that is set to release on MSNBC this weekend. “I feel like it does a grave disservice and dishonors not just the memory of the four that we lost, but of everybody who has served our country.”

“I knew the ambassador that we lost in Benghazi,” Clinton said. “Along with him, we lost three other brave Americans who were representing us in a very dangerous part of the world.”

David Brock, founder of pro-Clinton rapid response group Correct the Record, called on the Benghazi committee Wednesday to immediately suspend the investigation and for an ethics probe to take place. He also called on McCarthy to withdraw from consideration of his speakership in a letter provided to POLITICO.

“You displayed a level of candor not seen in many politicians,” Brock wrote. “However, by admitting — in fact sir by bragging — that the House Select Committee on Benghazi is little more than a partisan cudgel intended to damage Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, you have pulled back the curtain on your own party’s abuse of power and misuse of taxpayer funds to advance a nakedly political goal.”

Brock said McCarthy’s admission was evidence he was unfit to lead.

“As such, you should withdraw from consideration as Speaker immediately and make way for someone whose sense of decency and national service isn’t completely overwhelmed by partisan ambition,” he wrote.

Senate leaders Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) also called on Thursday for Boehner to disband the investigation.

"The Select Committee on Benghazi has already cost the American tax payers over 4.5 million dollars on what the House Majority Leader has now made clear is nothing more than a political attack against Secretary Clinton," they wrote in a letter. "This investigation is one of the longest in Congressional history, surpassing the length of the Watergate Committee, the Joint Committee investigating Pearl Harbor, the Warren Commission, and the Iran Contra investigation."