Republican pauses questioning so Clinton can read her notes

Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) repeatedly halted his questioning of Hillary Clinton during Thursday’s Benghazi Committee hearing so she could read her notes.

“I can pause while you’re reading the notes from your staff,” the member of the select committee told her. “Go ahead and read the note if you need to.”

{mosads}The gesture made Clinton chuckle.

“I can do more than one thing at a time,” the former secretary of State retorted.

“I’m just giving you the courtesy of reading your notes,” Roskam responded after questioning Clinton further.

“Let me reclaim my time,” he added later, implying that the exchange had limited his opportunity to question the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate.

The exchange drew criticism from Democrats on Twitter who found Roskam condescending.

“GOP questioners 0-1 in not being condescending,” tweeted Josh Zembik, the communications director for Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).

“Hey, @PeterRoskam, why is Congresswoman [Susan] Brooks [R-Ind.] reading from her notes?” asked Guy Cecil, co-chairman and chief strategist for Priorities USA Action, a PAC supporting Clinton’s 2016 campaign.

Roskam then sparred with Clinton over her handling of Libya’s civil war during her tenure at State.

“After your plan, things in Libya today are a disaster,” he told Clinton.

“We will have more time to talk about this, I’m sure, but that’s not a view I will ascribe to,” she responded.

Clinton appeared before the House’s special committee Thursday after months of anticipation over her testimony.

At issue is her handling of the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, as well as Clinton’s use of a private email server while serving as secretary of State.