House Democrats today demanded an end to a Republican-led investigation into the deadly attack on the US diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, calling the probe a partisan "witch hunt."
Reps Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, and Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said the multiple inquires and reports have answered the questions surrounding the September 11, 2012, assault.
Four Americans, including US Ambassador Chris Stevens, were killed.
Republicans have accused the Obama administration of trying to mislead the American people about an act of terrorism in the final weeks before the November presidential election.
Nineteen months after the attack, Republicans are "throwing the same mud against the wall and hoping it sticks," Smith said. "It is time to get past the Benghazi witch hunt." Republicans, who control the House, insist there are unresolved issues and they have a responsibility to fulfill their oversight role, a point underscored by Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, this week.
Cummings and Smith spoke shortly before the House committees planned to interview retired Army Gen Carter Ham, who headed US Africa Command on the night of the attack.
Cummings said Ham has been interviewed at least six times, and that an independent report and a Republican report from the House Armed Services Committee found no evidence of a "stand down" order to the military, delaying a response.
"It's insulting the way Republicans are treating the military," Cummings said.
Multiple independent and congressional investigations have largely faulted the State Department for inadequate security at the mission.
