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Dems consider resigning from Benghazi committee

by Elliot Smilowitz - 10/20/15 9:30 PM ET

Democrats on the House committee investigating the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, may leave the panel soon after former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testifies before it this week, according to one Dem.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who is on the House Select Committee on Benghazi, told Reuters on Tuesday that Democrats want to make sure Clinton is treated fairly but don’t want to keep giving legitimacy to the panel.

{mosads}”How much longer does it make sense for us to continue to participate?” Schiff told Reuters.

“We lend legitimacy, by being there, to a committee that really has none,” he added.

Clinton, a Democratic presidential candidate, will testify Thursday about her handling of the Benghazi attacks and her personal email server.

Four Americans were killed when militants attacked a U.S. consulate in the Libyan city in 2012.

Schiff said on “Meet the Press” on Sunday that the committee has often leaked damaging information to try to hurt Clinton’s 2016 campaign.

“The way that this committee has operated is by leak of damaging information with only one objective, and that is all the leaks have a common denominator, all of the leaks are designed to hurt Secretary Clinton,” he said Sunday.

“The fact is … after 17 months, four-and-a-half million dollars, we have nothing new to tell the families, apart from that there was a private email server,” he added. “That doesn’t tell us anything about Benghazi.”

Tags Adam Schiff Benghazi