Why The Stakes Are So High For Hillary Clinton — And The Benghazi Committee
Campaign ads will be made based on what is said Thursday in room 1100 of the Longworth House Office Building.
That's where the House Select Committee on Benghazi will hear testimony from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — possibly as much as six to eight hours of testimony. And there's no question superPACs, opposition researchers and presidential campaigns, including Clinton's, will be watching closely, parsing every word and facial expression.
Even before the much-anticipated testimony started, the proceedings became a political mud pit. The stakes for this committee aren't high just for Clinton but also for the legitimacy of the committee itself.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy bragged about the committee's work bringing Clinton's poll numbers down, at least in part derailing his candidacy for House speaker. Then, a House GOP back-bencher said a "big part" of the Benghazi investigation was designed to go after Clinton.
That gave Clinton's allies an opening to question the very existence and purpose of the committee and prompted House Benghazi committee chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., to tell his fellow Republicans to cool it.
"I have told my own Republican colleagues and friends, 'Shut up talking about things that you don't know anything about,' " Gowdy said Sunday on CBS's Face the Nation. "And unless you're on the committee, you have no idea what we've done, why we've done it and what new facts we have found."
In the days leading up to the hearing, the charges and countercharges, the strongly worded letters, fact sheets and selective leaks have been coming so fast and furious, it would be hard for anyone to keep up. All sides are trying to set expectations ahead of what will be the most closely watched hearing the Benghazi committee will hold.
And if past is prologue, the ads with ominous music and unflattering images won't be far behind. Clinton's campaign has already produced an ad based on McCarthy's comments.
As has Priorities USA, a Clinton-allied superPAC. Its ad started running in heavy rotation on cable TV Wednesday.
Testimony in 2013 in which Clinton said "What difference does it make?" has appeared (out of context) in countless Web videos and ads.
While members of the committee can take breaks, drink coffee and slip out to go to the restroom, Clinton will be at the witness table for many hours, on the spot the whole time. This while the FBI is still investigating the handling of sensitive information on the private email server Clinton used for official business while secretary of state.
Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat on the committee, said he's confident Clinton will perform well, but she faces risks. She has to be careful not to be too dismissive or get flustered, he said.
"It's very hard, I think, when you're fatigued, and you're the one who's answering all the questions," Schiff told NPR. "Just maintaining that level of alertness without losing your cool is a challenge. So, there are ample opportunities to get tripped up, which I'm sure is what the Republicans are hoping for."
Will anything change as a result of the hearing? It seems unlikely. The terrorist attack on the diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012, has been politicized almost from the moment it happened, in the height of that year's presidential race. Conspiracy theories abound, as do investigations disproving them.
It's become something of a Rorschach test. For Republicans, Benghazi, it seems, will always be about a Democratic president's failures and his politically ambitious secretary of state. For Democrats, it is nothing but a partisan witch hunt and a waste of resources.
Clinton's private email server, which was revealed as part of the investigation, proves to Republicans that it's just another reason to dislike her, a sign she's playing by different rules and that the committee is doing the right thing.
For Democrats, the private email server is regrettable. But most of them seem to agree with presidential candidate Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who said at last week's Democratic debate, "The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails. Enough of the emails."
Clinton agreed. She hopes that after Thursday's proceedings, more Americans do, too.
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Transcript
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
On a debate stage the other night, five Democrats took more than two hours of questions. Well, this morning as we speak, lawmakers are gathering in a hearing room here in Washington, D.C., ready to spend hours questioning one of those candidates, Hillary Clinton. The former secretary of state is facing questions about the attack that left four Americans dead in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Questions for Hillary Clinton about that incident may range from security at diplomatic outposts to her infamous email server. And the presidential campaign will never be far out of sight. NPR's Tamara Keith is following the Clinton campaign. She's on the line. Hi, Tamara.
TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: Hi, Steve.
INSKEEP: So how does this work?
KEITH: First, this will be in public, which is a change. Much of the testimony before this committee has been done in private, but Hillary Clinton said she wanted a public hearing. Several of her advisers have done these closed-door meetings, and they've taken eight or nine hours, so Clinton can expect a lengthy hearing. There will be opening statements, but she is the only witness, which means that she's going to be on the spot for a very long time.
INSKEEP: OK, now, everybody on all sides says this should be about four dead Americans and about this incident, and yet everyone seems to acknowledge that it will on some measure be about Hillary Clinton. What is at stake for her?
KEITH: For her, this is a big public moment. The debate was a big performance, but this is a large moment in her campaign. And she has to be careful not to be too dismissive, even if she does think that this committee is really just on a partisan witch hunt. Also, the FBI is still investigating the handling of sensitive information on her private email server that she used while she was secretary of state. So there could be some legal considerations. And then there's just the spotlight. Anything she says could, and probably will, end up in a negative campaign ad. I'm sure we've all seen this video where she said, what difference does it make, in another Benghazi hearing a couple of years ago. Well, there was a much larger context to that. She was pushing back on a line of questioning about why the administration initially said the attack grew out of a protest. But that context isn't there in any of the many ads and web videos that have run using that footage, and so...
INSKEEP: Oh, it's made to suggest that she's asking what difference does the attack itself make. It's changing the meaning by omitting the context. Is that what you're saying?
KEITH: Exactly, and in this political silly season, anything anyone says in that committee, both the Democrats and the Republicans, could be clipped out and put into an ad made to look - make them look bad. Made to make the process look political or made to make Clinton look dismissive. I talked to Congressman Adam Schiff. He's a Democrat on the committee, and he said he's sure that Clinton will perform well but that this is perilous.
ADAM SCHIFF: It's very hard, I think, when you're fatigued and you're the one who's answering all the questions. So just maintaining that level of alertness without losing your cool is a challenge. So there are ample opportunities to be tripped up, which is I'm sure what the GOP will be hoping for.
INSKEEP: So that's a Democratic perspective. Now, how have Republicans done at persuading people of their claim that this is not a political investigation?
KEITH: Lately, it hasn't been going very well. It's gotten very muddy, in part because of a couple of House Republicans who have sort of bragged about the political damage that this committee has been able to do. The committee's chairman, Trey Gowdy, went on CBS's "Face The Nation" on Sunday and begged them to please stop.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "FACE THE NATION")
TREY GOWDY: I have told my own Republican colleagues and friends, shut up talking about things that you don't know anything about. And unless you're on the committee, you have no idea what we've done, why we've done it and what new facts we have found.
KEITH: For Gowdy, the legitimacy of his committee is really at stake here. There have been seven other investigations, and he needs to show that this committee's time and money and resources were worth it. And to do that, he's going to need to turn up something new - something that could keep American diplomats safer in the future.
INSKEEP: Tam, thanks very much.
KEITH: You're welcome.
INSKEEP: That's NPR's Tamara Keith. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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