Senate Dems want RNC to pay for Benghazi committee

Senate Democrats want the Republican National Committee (RNC) to reimburse taxpayers for the House committee tasked with investigating the 2012 terrorist attack in Libya.

In a letter released Wednesday and sent to RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and fellow Democratic leaders Sens. Dick Durbin (Ill.), Patty Murray (Wash.) and Charles Schumer (N.Y.) cited the “political nature” of the House Select Committee on Benghazi in saying taxpayers should be repaid.  

{mosads}”Due to the political nature of the committee, we believe it is inappropriate that a reported 4.7 million taxpayer dollars were used to finance its operations and that the RNC subsequently orchestrated numerous fundraising opportunities in its wake,” they wrote in the letter. “Therefore, we urge the RNC to fully reimburse the U.S. taxpayer and cease all fundraising opportunities linked to the Select Committee.” 

The letter comes ahead of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s appearance Thursday before the committee, which could be the biggest congressional showdown of the year.

The House committee has come under scrutiny, particularly from Democrats, in recent weeks after House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) tied the panel’s work to Clinton’s falling poll numbers. Separately, The New York Times reported that the committee’s work has increasingly shifted away from the attack and toward Clinton’s use of a private email server while at State. 

The four Senate Democrats added in their letter that the comments and reports underscore that the committee “retreated from the pursuit of the facts and instead is operating a political opposition machine against Secretary Clinton.”

“The continued use of taxpayer funds is wholly inappropriate. We firmly believe the Committee should be disbanded, and that every penny of taxpayer money that has financed this purely political committee ought to be repaid,” they wrote. 

Senate Democrats previously asked House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to close down the committee after McCarthy’s comments. 

Their letter also comes as Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) suggested that House Democrats could leave the panel shortly after Clinton testifies.