House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif
Politicians love few things better than a scandal to trip uptheir opponents, and Republicans hope last year's fatal attack on U.S.diplomats in Libya will do exactly that to Hillary Rodham Clinton and otherDemocrats.
History suggests it might be a tough lift. The issue iscomplex, the next presidential election is more than three years away, and anumber of reports and officials have disputed criticisms of Clinton's role whenshe was secretary of state.
Still, Republicans and conservative talk hosts are hammeringaway at Clinton's and the Obama administration's handling of the 8-month-oldtragedy. A daylong House Oversight Committee hearing Wednesday starred threeState Department officials invited by Republicans.
Security was poorly handled in Benghazi, Libya, they said,and administration officials later tried to obscure what happened.
Clinton, seen by many as the early Democratic favorite forpresident in 2016, generally drew strong reviews for her four-year stint assecretary of state. Her darkest moment was the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on theU.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi.
Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans werekilled. Top administration officials initially said the attackers werespontaneous protesters, angry about an anti-Islamic video. They lateracknowledged the attackers were well-equipped terrorists acting under plans.
A major independent inquiry largely absolved Clinton ofwrongdoing.
The findings incensed many Republican leaders andconservative news outlets, who portray Benghazi as a simmering scandal about toerupt.
The three officials testifying Wednesday offered little thathas not been aired in previous congressional hearings. Afterward, Republicansall but acknowledged they're still seeking a knockout punch.
"This hearing is now over, but this investigation isnot," said Darrell Issa of California, the hard-charging Republicanchairman of the House committee. He urged "whistle-blowers" and"witnesses who have been afraid to come forward" to step up and"tell us your story, and we will make sure it gets public."
Republicans hope public anger over the Benghazi attacks andtheir aftermath will besmirch congressional Democrats in next year's midtermelections.
By late Wednesday, Democrats expressed confidence.
"The unsubstantiated Republican allegations aboutBenghazi disintegrated one by one," said Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland,the House committee's top Democrat. "There's no evidence of a conspiracyto withhold military assets for political reasons, no evidence of acover-up."
Ethical lapses and even full-blown scandals have a mixedrecord of influencing U.S. elections. Watergate not only forced Richard Nixonfrom the White House in August 1974; it also triggered crushing losses forcongressional Republicans in midterm elections three months later.
President Gerald Ford's pardon of Nixon may have ended anyhope he had of defeating Jimmy Carter in 1976.
Other scandals, however, did far less political damage. TheIran-Contra affair of Ronald Reagan's second term, and Bill Clinton's affairwith Monica Lewinsky did not prevent either man's vice president from winningthe popular vote in the next presidential election.
Some Democratic campaign veterans say the Benghazi affair istoo complex and too muddled to swing national elections next year and in 2016.
"The Republicans are pulling out the stops tomanufacture a scandal, but it's not likely to stick on Hillary Clinton orDemocrats in general," said veteran Clinton strategist Doug Hattaway.
Republican activists seem determined to push on. TheRepublican National Committee floods social media sites almost hourly withheadlines such as "So many questions about Benghazi."
Soon after White House press secretary Jay Carney was forcedagain on Wednesday to defend the administration's record in the Benghaziattacks, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner issued a point-by-pointrejoinder.
A Boehner aide said the speaker will call on the StateDepartment to release internal emails from last September, regarding politicalfallout from the Benghazi attacks.
"It may not be a smoking gun or a warm slingshot,"Republican Rep. Doug Collins said in the hearing's final hour. "But wehave four dead Americans," and his constituents "are looking for thetruth."