Hillary Clinton will spend Thursday in front of House Benghazi panel. Most Americans don't seem to care.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 22 October 2015

At 10 a.m. in Washington, D.C., the House Select Committee on Benghazi is scheduled to gavel into session to interview Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of state during the 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic outpost in eastern Libya. Each of the panel's seven Republicans and five Democrats have been allotted 10 minutes to question Clinton, and Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) has said the focus of most questions will be on decisions she and subordinates made before the attack, which killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three security personnel. He says discussion of Clinton's use of a private email server while in office will be limited to emails regarding Benghazi.

The hearing, expected to last six to eight hours, is a high-stakes, high-profile event for both Clinton, the Democratic presidential frontrunner, and the committee Republicans, who are struggling to prove it isn't a politically motivated attack on Clinton. But according to a new Associated Press/GfK poll, most Americans either don't have any opinion about Clinton and Benghazi or don't see a problem with her handling of the attack.

About 40 percent of respondents said they neither approve or disapprove of how Clinton has answered questions about the attack and 20 percent approve of her response to the investigation; 37 percent disapprove. More than half of respondents said Clinton's use of a private server is no problem or a minor problem, while two-thirds of Republicans say its a major problem. AP's Lisa Lerer says she finds the broad apathy "a little bit surprising." You can learn more about the poll in her report below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.