Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign is out with a new national television ad that includes a recent clip of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy that Democrats have seized on to argue that the House Select Committee on Benghazi is politically driven.
“The Republicans finally admit it,” a narrator says in the 30-second cable spot.
“Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi special committee. … What are her numbers today?” Mr. McCarthy, California Republican, says in the ad. The clip of Mr. McCarthy was from a recent Fox News appearance.
“Republicans have spent millions attacking Hillary because she’s fighting for everything they oppose, from affordable health care to equal pay,” a narrator says. “She’ll never stop fighting for you, and the Republicans know it.”
In a statement issued Tuesday morning, Mr. McCarthy, who is running to be the next Speaker of the House, said the mission of the select committee is “to find the truth — period.”
“The integrity of Chairman [Trey] Gowdy, the committee and the work they’ve accomplished is beyond reproach,” Mr. McCarthy said. “The serious questions Secretary Clinton faces are due entirely to her own decision to put classified information at risk and endanger our national security.”
Mrs. Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential front-runner, has continued to face questions about her response as secretary of state to the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attack on a U.S. compound in Benghazi that killed four Americans.
But the ad, as well as remarks she made Monday calling the select committee a partisan and political exercise that exploits those deaths, indicate that Democrats are likely to continue to invoke Mr. McCarthy’s original comments as Mrs. Clinton prepares to testify before the committee later this month.
Though the full remarks weren’t included in the ad, Mr. McCarthy went on to say in the recent Fox News interview: “Her numbers are dropping. Why? Because she’s untrustable. But no one would have known that any of that had happened had we not fought to make that happen.”
The California Republican had walked back the comments last week after the interview, saying it was never his intention to imply the committee was political.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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