MEMO
TO: SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER
FR: FORMER CONGRESSMEN JIM
COURTER, DICK SCHULZE, GARY LEE AND JOHN LEBOUTILLIER
RE: INVESTIGATING BENGHAZI
Just
fourteen months ago – on September 11, 2012 – a heavily armed band of over 100
Libyan militiamen stormed the United States Consulate compound in Benghazi,
Libya. Our Ambassador, Chris Higgins, and three other brave Americans were brutally
and savagely murdered.
That
is what we know for certain.
Unfortunately,
that is all we know for certain.
Despite
the investigative work of four standing House Committees – Armed Services,
Foreign Affairs, Judiciary and Oversight – today more Americans – 62% according
to a recent poll - believe there is a cover-up than have believed it at any
time in the year since the attacks occurred.
Several
weeks ago in a bombshell report, CNN uncovered information that these four
House committees failed to unearth: the CIA had three dozen personnel on the
ground at Benghazi that night; at least seven were seriously injured; CIA
personnel were secretly evacuated in the dark of the night; and they have been
kept hidden from Congressional investigators since through the unprecedented
use of monthly polygraph examinations to ensure that they do not talk to House
staff or members of the media.
CNN
described it “as pure intimidation, with the threat that any unauthorized CIA
employee who leaks information could face the end of his or her career.”
One
insider wrote to CNN, "You don't jeopardize yourself, you jeopardize your
family as well."
Another
said, "You have no idea the amount of pressure being brought to bear on
anyone with knowledge of this operation."
And
why can CNN uncover this – and four standing committees of the House of
Representatives armed with hundreds of staff and subpoena power - cannot? There
are more questions today than ever before.
Why has not one
person who was in Benghazi the night of the attack been subpoenaed to testify
publicly before Congress?
Why has the
Congress not asked, or subpoenaed, these individuals to testify before House
committees that have been investigating over the past year?
How many
Benghazi survivors, including federal employees, military personnel or
contractors, have been asked to sign additional Non-Disclosure Agreements by
the different agencies relating to what happened in Benghazi?
In
the face of any cover-up, speculation runs rampant. Some wonder if the Obama
Administration was using Benghazi as a hub to transfer weapons through Turkey
to Syrian rebels; others suspect the CIA outpost in Benghazi was a rendition
site where “enhanced interrogations” were taking place and these militants were
storming the compound to free their comrades.
It
is clear that the current multi-headed Congressional probe is failing – and the
Administration’s strong-armed stonewall approach is still working.
Mr.
Speaker, up until now we have agreed with your conservative, steady leadership
and faith in the “regular order” of the House to uncover the truth. However, in light of these recent revelations,
we now believe the only way to break this logjam and get to the bottom of this
issue is for you to appoint a House Select Committee on Benghazi. In the face
of an Administration determined not to cooperate, it is now time to unite all
the House committees and investigative staff into one bipartisan Select
Committee with cross-jurisdictional subpoena authority.
Historically, a
Select Committee is appropriate when investigations of this magnitude are
warranted i.e. Watergate, Iran-Contra, the JFK assassination.
If
you do this you will have the support of the majority of the House.
You
also have the support of more than half of the committees of jurisdiction already
investigating Benghazi, including a majority of the Armed Services, Foreign
Affairs, Judiciary and Oversight.
The families of the Benghazi victims also
want a Select Committee. So does the Federal Law Enforcement Officers
Association, which represents the Diplomatic Security agents on the ground in
Benghazi, and the retired Special Operations community in a letter signed by
hundreds of former Special Ops members.
According
to a new McLaughlin-Caddell poll, two thirds of Americans want a select
committee. That includes 83 percent of Republicans as well as 58 percent of Independents who
“believe it is important for a special committee to get the truth about
Benghazi.” Nearly half of Democrats don’t believe the Obama Administration has
been “honest and forthcoming with the public” about the Benghazi attacks; 50%
of Democratic women favor the creation of this committee. A majority of
moderate voters also support a special committee to investigate Benghazi.
For
those who raise questions of budget, staff and available office space, a Select
Committee on Benghazi would build on the work done by standing committees by
bringing together their documents and the best investigators from each for 90
days. This Select Committee would use existing House personnel, office
space and resources thus there would be no additional cost.
Unlike current
committees, this Select Committee would have full subpoena authority and
ability to call any witness for hearing or deposition.
Mr.
Speaker, it is our hope that a bipartisan Select Committee would help remove
politics from this issue and provide for a comprehensive, exhaustive and
complete process including public
hearings with survivors.
We do noturge the creation of this Select Committee for any
partisan purpose. Future elections and potential candidacies must not be a
factor here.
The historical role of the House of
Representatives as a check and balance on the executive mandates that this investigation
reach a conclusion about what went on during that horrible, dark night a year
ago.
Jim Courter was a Member of the
House of Representatives (R. NJ) from 1979-1991 and was the Chairman of the
Base Closure and Realignment Commission. Dick Schulze was a Member of the House
of Representatives (R. PA.) from 1975-1993 and was a Member of the House Armed
Services Committee. Gary Lee was a Member of the House of Representatives (R.
NY) from 1979-1983 and was a Member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. John
LeBoutillier was a Member of the House of Representatives (R. NY) from 1981-1983
and a Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
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