Hillary Clinton’s campaign will begin airing a national TV ad Tuesday featuring controversial comments made by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy suggesting her poll numbers were dropping because of a Republican-led inquiry by the committee investigating the fatal 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya.
“Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right, but we put together a Benghazi special committee,” McCarthy, R-Calif. says. Then, the top candidate for House speaker says: “What are her numbers today?”
“Republicans have spent millions attacking Hillary because she’s fighting for everything they oppose from affordable health care to equal pay,”a narrator then says.
Democrats quickly seized on the comments as evidence that Republicans are using the investigation merely as “a political campaign against Hillary Clinton.”
Several Democrats, including Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., called on House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio to disband the committee.
The American Democracy Legal Fund has filed a complaint with the House Office of Congressional Ethics against McCarthy for violating House ethics rules by using official resources for political purposes.
The committee, formed in May 2014, has become one of the longest-running investigative committees in House history. It is now looking into Clinton’s use of a private email system, among other things.
The 30-second spot, titled “Admit,” will run on national cable TV ad, though published reports indicate it is a small buy.
“The mission of the Select Committee on Benghazi is to find the truth _ Period,” McCarthy said in a statement Tuesday. “The integrity of Chairman Gowdy, the Committee and the work they've accomplished is beyond reproach. The serious questions Secretary Clinton faces are due entirely to her own decision to put classified information at risk and endanger our national security."
Anita Kumar: 202-383-6017, @anitakumar01