Should Hillary Clinton testify on Benghazi again?

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

Republicans want former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to return to Capitol Hill to answer questions about new information emerging about the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on in Benghazi that killed Libya ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

ABC News recently obtained emails suggesting the Obama administration played politics last fall by editing talking points on the Benghazi attack to remove references to Ansar al-Sharia, a group linked to al Qaeda. House investigators also want Clinton's reaction to testimony from "whistle-blowers" who said a quicker response could have saved lives.

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To Clinton's supporters, this suggestion is ridiculous. "Hillary Clinton has already appeared before Congress attempting to help Republicans understand the documents they have had access to but seem to not grasp," says Sarah Jones at Politics USA. Now, "hysterically touting emails" that don't say what Republicans claim, conservatives have the nerve to trot out Dick Cheney — who has failed to testify on everything from WMDs to torture to the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame — in an absurd attempt to revive their "witch hunt."

Dick Cheney, who does not believe a congressional subpoena can be applied to himself or a Republican executive branch, is now trying to use the congressional subpoena as a whipping tool with which to beat Hillary Clinton. Funny how the press never points out that officials from the Obama administration showed up for these witch hunt hearings, instead of hiding under executive privilege...Not only does this reveal that Republicans have two sets of standards, and thus their claims of concern over transparency are so cravenly ridiculous as to warrant a sick laugh, but it also shows just how desperate they are to abuse taxpayer money for yet another witch hunt. [Politics USA]

Some conservatives also warn against appearing overly partisan by hauling Clinton back to Capitol Hill to testify yet again. "It is important the Republicans take seriously their responsibility to keep pulling slowly and methodically, avoiding overreach," says Thomas Lifson at The American Thinker. And that's exactly what subpoenaing Hillary Clinton would be. Before doing anything that drastic, Lifson says, GOP politicians investigating Benghazi might push for a select committee appointed by House Speaker John Boehner, as The Wall Street Journal advocates. "Once that has been established, it will be time to start subpoenaing the records."

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.

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