TODAY, HILLARY CLINTON FINALLY BEGAN HER TESTIMONY
BEFORE THE HOUSE BENGHAZI PANEL, AND SO FAR THE DIALOGUE BETWEEN
HER, HER DEMOCRATIC ALLIES, AND TREY GOWDY AND THE OTHER
REPUBLICANS, WHO WERE EFFECTIVELY SETTING THIS UP AS
AN ATTACK ON HER AND HER CAMPAIGN FOR THE PRESIDENCY, HAS
BEEN EXACTLY AS PREDICTED.
WE WILL HAVE A BIT OF HILLARY IN A
BIT, BUT WE WANT TO START OFF WITH TREY GOWDY BECAUSE IN THE
CLIPS YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE, HE WILL MAKE VERY CLEAR THAT HE
UNDERSTANDS THE PRESSURE THAT IS BEING PUT ON THE REPUBLICAN
PARTY OVER THE PAST FEW WEEKS FOR THE POLITICAL NATURE OF THIS
INVESTIGATION, QUESTIONING WHETHER IT NEEDS TO EXIST IN THE
FIRST PLACE.
HE WILL ATTEMPT TO RESPOND TO THOSE ALLEGATIONS.
FIRST HERE ON HOW IMPORTANT HILLARY CLINTON IS TO THE
INVESTIGATION.
OUR COMMITTEE IS INTERVIEWED HALF A HUNDRED WITNESSES, NOT A
SINGLE ONE OF THEM HAS BEEN NAMED CLINTON.
YOU ARE AN
IMPORTANT WITNESS, YOU ARE ONE IMPORTANT WITNESS AMONG HALF
A HUNDRED IMPORTANT WITNESSES.
SEE, I MISTAKENLY THOUGHT THAT SHE WAS AN INCREDIBLY
IMPORTANT PART OF THIS.
AND I WAS MISLED THIS WHOLE TIME BY EVERY REPUBLICAN IN THE
HOUSE, EFFECTIVELY.
I WAS MISTAKEN IN THINKING THAT WE HAD A SEQUENTIAL
NUMERICAL ORDER IN THIS COUNTRY WHICH WAS LARGELY ACCEPTED BY
MOST OF THE SPEAKING CLASS, BUT APPARENTLY IT GOES LIKE 46,
47, 48, 49, HALF A HUNDRED, 51, 52 --
IT WAS VERY GEORGE R.R.
MARTIN.
CAN WE JUST PLAY THE FIRST PART?
OUR COMMITTEE HAS INTERVIEWED HALF A HUNDRED
WITNESSES, NOT A SINGLE ONE OF THEM --
HE DID IT TWICE, SO WE COULD HAVE TAKEN EITHER ONE.
LIKE, HOW DID EVERYONE BEHIND CLINTON NOT GO, WHAT?
IS THAT A LOT?
DID HE JUST SAY HALF A HUNDRED?
BECAUSE I USE 50.
AM I, LIKE, SUPER OLD-SCHOOL?
IS THIS WHAT THE YOUNG PEOPLE ARE SAYING?
I DOUBT IT.
IT IS NOT HALF A HUNDRED CENT.
I SENT THAT TWEET TODAY, TO MICHAEL SCHUR.
I SAID YOU SHOULD
GET YOUR SON THE NEW HALF A HUNDRED ALBUM.
HALF A HUNDRED WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR LOVER, IF YOU WANT TO GO
OLD-SCHOOL WITH PAUL SIMON.
HALF A HUNDRED SHADES OF GRAY.
MICHAEL SCHUR TWEETED, DOES ANYONE HAVE A SYNONYM FOR
HALF A HUNDRED?
I SAID, GET A THESAURUS AND LET THE HALF FOR 870
MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO YOUR JOB.
I SAW THAT TWEET, I DIDN'T GET IT UNTIL NOW.
BUT I THINK THEY
ARE MASSIVELY OVERSTATING HER INFLUENCE ON WHAT HAPPENED IN
BENGHAZI, BUT THEY CLEARLY HAVE BEEN EMPHASIZING IT.
SO TO
COME NOW, AFTER 17 MONTHS OF INVESTIGATION, AND TRY TO
PRETEND THAT YOU DON'T REALLY CARE ABOUT HER, AS IF SHE IS
TRYING TO MAKE IT ABOUT HERSELF AND NOT YOU, I THINK THAT IS
LAUGHABLE.
MAYBE I AM WRONG ABOUT HOW POLITICS WORKS BUT I DON'T THINK
SO, AND I THINK THAT EVERYONE, AND WE HAVE POLL NUMBERS TO BACK
THIS UP, EVERYBODY KNOWS IT IS ABOUT HER.
SO YOU MAKE THE
MISTAKE YOU ARE ALREADY IN GRAVER AND MORE SERIOUS BY
PRETENDING IT IS NOT.
WHEN YOU SAY WE ARE INVESTIGATING THIS
BECAUSE THIS HAPPENED TO AN AMBASSADOR AND THIS WAS ON THE
STATE DEPARTMENT'S WATCH AND YOU ARE IN CHARGE OF THE STATE
DEPARTMENT, WE WILL GET ANSWERS FOR YOU -- JUST SAY THAT.
IT IS
CONSISTENT.
AND LOOK, IT IS POLITICAL THEATER.
WE TALKED
ABOUT THIS A YEAR AND A HALF AGO WHEN THEY STARTED -- WHEN WE
FIRST DID THE BENGHAZI THING, WHEN WE FIRST HAD MEETINGS
UPSTAIRS ABOUT LET'S LET IT GO, WE ARE FALLING INTO THE TRAP.
OF COVERING IT JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE.
BUT THE FACT IS EVENTUALLY WE AS A GROUP WERE LIKE, WELL, THIS
WILL BE AROUND --
FOREVER.
THIS IS NOT A REAL THING, THIS IS DESIGNED -- IT WAS THE FIRST
SHIFT IN NOT BLAMING OBAMA ABOUT SOMETHING BECAUSE THERE WAS A
RECOGNITION OF THAT THIS IS AN ISSUE THAT WE CAN DRAG ON AND
HAVE CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATIONS LEADING INTO
PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN SEASON.
IT WAS PERHAPS THE FIRST SIGN A PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN HAD BEGUN.
THEY DID EXACTLY, EXACTLY, 100% WHAT THEY SET OUT TO DO.
THEY HAVE HAD SEVEN COMMITTEES INVESTIGATING THIS?
THIS IS THE SEVENTH I BELIEVE, THERE WERE FOUR OTHERS IN THE
HOUSE, TWO IN THE SENATE.
THIS IS THEIR BIG MOMENT, ARGUABLY THEY SHOULD'VE
WAITED UNTIL I GUESS FEBRUARY.
IT WOULD STILL BE GOING.
THAT IS A GREAT POINT YOU BROUGHT UP,
THE SHEER NUMBER, AND TO PUT IN PERSPECTIVE, LET'S BRING UP
GRAPHIC 1.
HERE YOU WILL SEE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES
INVESTIGATING PAST HIGH-PROFILE TERRORIST ATTACKS.
SO WE ARE AT
NUMBER 8 FOR BENGHAZI, WHICH I COUNT AS MORE THAN THE
INVESTIGATIONS INTO ALL OF THESE OTHER ONES.
AND EVERY ONE OF THOSE -- I THINK THE 1988 EMBASSY BOMBING,
AND FORGIVE ME IF I'M INCORRECT, I DON'T THINK ANY AMERICANS
DIED, BUT MANY LOCALS DIED.
MANY PEOPLE WORKING AT THE EMBASSY, I JUST DON'T THINK
THEY WERE AMERICAN.
EVERY ONE OF THE OTHER ATTACKS I THINK KILLED MORE AMERICANS
THAN WERE KILLED IN BENGHAZI.
IN SOME CASES --
HOW MANY DIED AT THE BOSTON MARATHON?
4 OR 5?
FIVE OR SIX OR SOMETHING.
OKLAHOMA CITY WAS 174-ISH?
SOMETHING LIKE THAT?
OBVIOUSLY SEPTEMBER 11, FAR MORE.
AND IF
YOU WANT TO GET INTO -- AND THIS WAS SIMILAR TO THE CONVERSATION
WE HAD WHEN JEB BUSH WAS SPEAKING WITH I BELIEVE JAKE
TAPPER, IF YOU WANT TO GET INTO WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE TO
PREVENT THIS, THE IDEA THAT IT IS EIGHT TIMES MORE IMPORTANT TO
FIGURE OUT WHAT HILLARY CLINTON COULD HAVE DONE TO PREVENT
BENGHAZI THEN WHAT THE ENTIRE BUSH ADMINISTRATION COULD HAVE
DONE IN THE MONTHS LEADING UP TO 9/11, IT'S LAUGHABLE.
THIS
ENTIRE THING SHOULD BE A COMEDY SPECIAL BUT UNFORTUNATELY IT IS
NOT.
WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT THE OTHER INVESTIGATIONS, IT MIGHT
SEEM OBVIOUS THAT THIS WAS UNNECESSARY, BUT TREY GOWDY HERE
WILL ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN WHY THIS EIGHTH INVESTIGATION IS
NECESSARY.
YOU WILL HEAR THERE WERE PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS, AND
THAT IS TRUE.
AND IT SHOULD MAKE YOU WONDER WHY THOSE
INVESTIGATIONS FAILED TO INTERVIEW SO MANY WITNESSES AND
ACCESS SO MANY DOCUMENTS.
IF THOSE PREVIOUS CONGRESSIONAL
INVESTIGATIONS WERE REALLY SERIOUS AND THOROUGH, HOW DID
THEY MISS AMBASSADOR STEVENS'S EMAILS?
IF THOSE PREVIOUS
INVESTIGATIONS WERE SERIOUS AND THOROUGH, HOW DID THEY MISS
SECRETARY CLINTON'S EMAILS?
IF THOSE CONGRESSIONAL
INVESTIGATIONS REALLY WERE SERIOUS AND THOROUGH, WHY DID
THEY FAIL TO INTERVIEW DOZENS OF KEY STATE DEPARTMENT WITNESSES,
INCLUDING AGENTS ON THE GROUND WHO EXPERIENCED THE ATTACKS
FIRSTHAND?
THIS GUY -- THAT'S A GOOD FACE FOR CLINTON ON THAT.
I KNEW
THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN, HILLARY CLINTON IS LIKE KOBE BRYANT.
YOU WILL HAVE TO EXPLAIN THAT MORE.
I DON'T LIKE KOBE BRYANT.
I DON'T THINK HIS TEAMMATES LIKE
HIM, I'VE NEVER ROOTED FOR HIM, I JUST BOUGHT A LAKERS T-SHIRT
BECAUSE MY DAUGHTER LIKES PURPLE, I THINK I MADE A
SIGNIFICANT SACRIFICE.
I WAS LIKE, I AM A GOOD DAD.
KOBE
BRYANT IS GETTING HURT, HE'S OLD AND WARRIOR-LIKE, WHETHER YOU
LIKE HIM OR NOT, AND I THOUGHT, DAMMIT, I AM GOING TO ROOT FOR
HIM.
I CAN SMELL IT.
HE PUT IN 34, HE'S STILL GETTING IT DONE.
NOW HILLARY CLINTON IS GETTING GANGED UP ON BY JAMES
SPADER FROM PRETTY IN PINK, AND NOW BY THE LAW OF I HATE
YOU MOST, I HAVE TO LIKE HER.
YOU MAKE HER SEEM LIKE A GOOD PERSON.
THE SAME THING HAPPENS
TO BEN CARSON.
HE STANDS NEXT TO THE CRAZIEST PERSON IN THE UNIVERSE AND
YOU THINK HE IS CRAZY, BUT --
I NOW BELIEVE BEN CARSON IS SOLIDLY IN THE RUNNING FOR
CRAZIEST PERSON IN THE UNIVERSE.
HE SHOULD NOT BE DISCOUNTED.
WE WILL GET TO THAT.
YOU GET STRUCK BY IT.
HE HAS THIS SPEECH PLANNED.
SERIOUS AND
THOROUGH?
THERE HAVE BEEN SEVEN INVESTIGATIONS BY CONGRESS, TWO
OF THEM BIPARTISAN, THE OTHER FIVE ARE RUN BY REPUBLICANS,
INCLUDING MIKE ROGERS IN THE HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE.
YOU DON'T THINK THOSE GUYS WERE SERIOUS AND THOROUGH?
WHAT KIND
OF DISRESPECT IS THAT?
IF I AM MIKE ROGERS, I AM LIKE, YOU KNOW --
SERIOUSLY.
LET'S GIVE THEM THE SENATE INVESTIGATIONS FOR FREE,
LET'S NOT COUNT THOSE ANYMORE.
THOSE WERE INVESTIGATIONS AND
THEY PRODUCED BIPARTISAN RESULTS BUT THEY WERE INITIALLY RUN BY
DEMOCRATS.
FINE, DON'T COUNT THOSE.
BUT THE FIVE OTHER
INVESTIGATIONS BY REPUBLICANS IN THE HOUSE?
IF THERE IS A
CONSPIRACY THEORY BEHIND WHAT HAPPENED IN BENGHAZI, IT IS
ECLIPSED BY THE CONSPIRACY THEORY THAT WOULD NEED TO EXIST
TO EXPLAIN WHY IN THOSE FIVE INVESTIGATIONS BY HOUSE
REPUBLICANS THEY HAD JUST CHOSEN NOT TO INVESTIGATE THESE THINGS.
THEY JUST DIDN'T CARE ENOUGH BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T
INTERESTED IN FINDING THE TRUTH, BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T
INTERESTED IN DESTROYING HILLARY CLINTON?
HE NEEDS TO EXPLAIN THAT TO JUSTIFY GETTING MILLIONS OF
MORE DOLLARS TO CONTINUE RUNNING THIS PANEL.
AND WE WERE WRONG, IT IS EIGHT.
THERE HAVE BEEN SEVEN
OTHERS, THIS IS THE EIGHTH.
TWO SENATE, AND FIVE OTHER ONES IN
THE HOUSE CHAIRED BY BUCK MCKEON, NO LONGER IN THE HOUSE,
A SERIOUS CONSERVATIVE FROM HERE IN CALIFORNIA, ED ROYCE, WHO
CHAIRED THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, THE HOUSE PERMANENT
SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE, THEY ARE THE ONES
WHO RELEASED THE FINDINGS FRIDAY AT 6:30,
THEY WERE LIKE, WE DIDN'T FIND ANYTHING.
THAT SHOWS CONFIDENCE, I THINK.
THAN THE JUDICIARY, CHAIRED BY BOB GOODLATTE, FROM VIRGINIA,
SERIOUS CONSERVATIVE.
AND THEN DARRELL ISSA IS ON THE HOUSE
COMMITTEE -- THEY ARE NOT GOING EASY ON CLINTON.
IT IS LAUGHABLE.
IT IS PREPOSTEROUS, SO DON'T SAY IT.
OWN WHAT YOU ARE.
I DON'T
TRUST YOU, SECRETARY CLINTON, AND WE WANT ANSWERS.
THAT'S HOW
I WOULD DO IT, BECAUSE NOW I THINK YOU DIMINISH IT AND YOU
ALLOW HER TO LOOK STRONG.