Republicans may delay a Hillary-centric Benghazi probe to 2016

The Benghazi embassy attack may hang over the entire duration of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, as Republicans signaled Wednesday they may drag out a report on the incident until months before the 2016 election.

A GOP-led Benghazi panel "wants this done by the end of the year," a spokesman for Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), the panel's chairman, said. However, he added that factors outside the panel's control — requests for interviews and documentation — "could continue to impact the timing of the inquiry's conclusion."

Also Wednesday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) blamed Clinton and the White House for investigation stagnation, saying the report would come sooner if they "actually cooperate with the committee."

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Critics argue the latest investigation is a nothingburger intended solely to tarnish Clinton in the 2016 race. Six government reports on the incident — some the product of previous Republican-led investigations — have found no evidence to support the most serious allegations against the administration or Clinton.

"With the Republicans' obsessive focus on Hillary Clinton, and their now stated intention to drag out this political charade until just months before the 2016 election, the Select Committee no longer bears any resemblance to its original purpose," the ranking Democrat on the committee, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), said in a statement.