Spitting on Their Graves: Democrats Leave Benghazi Hearing Before Testimony From Families of Victims

Katie Pavlich
Townhall.com
9/19/2013

During the second portion of a House Oversight and Government Reform hearing about Benghazi Thursday on Capitol Hill, the majority of Democrats on the Committee left the room and refused to listen to the testimony of Patricia Smith and Charles Woods. Ms. Smith is the mother of Sean Smith, an information management officer killed in the 9/11 Benghazi attack. Charles Woods is the father of Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods, who was also killed.

 

 

 

The far side of the room, shown empty in the photo, belongs to the Democrats. The only Democrats who stayed were Ranking Member Elijah Cummings and Rep. Jackie Speier.     CAJ note: A commenter wrote:

The Democrat members of the committee who walked out: Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, New York Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, District of Columbia Rep. John F. Tierney, Massachusetts Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay, Missouri Rep. Stephen F. Lynch, Massachusetts Rep. Jim Cooper, Tennessee Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, Virginia Rep. Matt Cartwright, Pennsylvannia Rep. Mark Pocan, Wisconsin Rep. Tammy Duckworth, Illinois Rep. Danny K. Davis, Illinois Rep. Robin Kelly, Illinois Rep. Peter Welch, Vermont Rep. Tony Cardenas, California Rep. Steven Horsford, Nevada Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexico

We can assure you they lectured the Republicans about their “lack of civility” when questioning Thomas Pickering and Mike Mullen. Evidently they didn’t think Pat Smith and Charles Woods deserved a little of the crawling and sucking up they demonstrated to the previous two witnesses.   Also at Townhall, this video of Rep. Patrick Meehan:

Before the House Oversight Committee Thursday Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-Pa.) asked Benghazi Accountability Review Board chairman, about the decisions of Under Secretary Patrick Kennedy.

And this video of Admiral Mullen, Mullen Stumbles to Answer Who Saw Benghazi Report   Related: Allahpundit:  Democrats leave committee hearing on Benghazi before victims’ families testify  

I guess we’ve reached the point in the “phony scandal” messaging where they felt a bold signal needed to be sent. Even with Sean Smith’s grieving mother sitting right there at the witness table…

   

 
Video of Pat Smith’s testimony is at the link.

 

 

Update: Subpoenas will hit State Department over Benghazi

…Many of the ARB’s interviews with State Department employees were conducted without making transcripts afterward, former Ambassador Thomas Pickering – the report’s other co-author – conceded Thursday. And no witnesses were required to swear oaths to tell the truth.

‘Both of you said that the administration, the secretary and so on made your job easy,’ Issa recalled while questioning Pickering, ‘because you had full access to a hundred witnesses, and the attempt was to have full transparency.’

‘Do you think that Congress should have that same option?’

Pickering insisted that Congress’ access to State Department employees ‘has to be worked out between the Congress and the executive branch.’

Issa hinted again at the threat of coming subpoenas, saying that his committee investigators ‘are not being given the same access that you had … and that’s part of the reason that this investigation cannot end until the State Department gives us at least the same access that they gave your board.’

The ARB’s report on Benghazi found that there were “systemic failures in leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels within two bureaus of the State Department [which] resulted in a Special Mission security posture that was inadequate for Benghazi and grossly inadequate to deal with the attack that took place.’

 

 

Update 2: Facebook friend D.S. reminded us tonight:

Does anybody remember grieving mother Cindy Sheehan – whom Kos said had “absolute moral authority” because her son had died in Iraq? Have the Democrats no shame?

 

 

Radio talk show host Michael Graham posted: “Stay classy, MA dems” MA Dems Walk Out On Families Of Benghazi Victims

Almost the entire Democrat section of panel is gone, while families testify.  Stay Classy, Democrats! At the House Oversight Committee today, the mother of dead former Navy Seal Sean Smith was there. So was the father of Tyrone Woods.

You know who wasn’t there?…

 

 

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