Former prosecutor, military vet: A look at Benghazi panel
WASHINGTON (AP) — When the House Select Committee on Benghazi holds its first public hearing in nearly 10 months, the spotlight will focus on a sole witness — Hillary Rodham Clinton, former first lady and senator, secretary of state and presidential contender.
[...] the panel's 12 members — seven Republicans and five Democrats — also will draw scrutiny, especially with complaints from Democrats and some Republicans that the investigation is a partisan-driven effort to undermine the Democratic front-runner.
Democrats — some of whom have called for disbanding the panel — will be expected to try and protect Clinton and the Obama administration's record.
Republicans have raised questions about thousands of emails that she has deleted on grounds that they were private in nature, as well as other messages that have surfaced independently of Clinton and the State Department.
A former Bush administration appointee who served six years as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, Brooks says she is focused on "the State Department's fundamental responsibility" to protect those who serve abroad.
The hard-charging conservative has defended the panel's mission, saying it has tens of thousands of new documents and has interviewed dozens of eyewitnesses that no other committees have interviewed.
A lawyer and former wrestling coach, the 51-year-old Jordan is chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of hard-line Republicans who have repeatedly challenged House Speaker John Boehner and contributed to his decision to resign at the end of this month.
A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Pompeo went to law school and was a businessman in the aerospace and oil industries before he was elected in 2010 with no previous political experience.
The 39-year-old congresswoman, an attorney and daughter of a federal judge, led the House Armed Services Committee's Benghazi investigation before she was appointed to the select panel last year.
In the select committee's hearings, Roby has questioned administration officials about whether they were doing enough to train and vet local security officers in high-risk posts.
Like the other Republicans on the panel, the congressman has focused on the importance of obtaining all of the emails from the private server Clinton used while in office.
After he was appointed to the select committee, Democrats targeted him for politicizing Benghazi because he then served as deputy chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the House's campaign arm.
Cummings says Republicans "have blatantly abused their authority in Congress by spending more than $4.5 million in taxpayer funds to pay for a political campaign against Hillary Clinton."
Duckworth is a former director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs and an assistant secretary of Veterans Affairs in the Obama administration.
"Only by ending this expensive and politicized investigation can we begin to undo the damage already done through this unprecedented use of Congress's power for purely partisan purposes," Schiff said.
The former federal prosecutor says he'll attempt to keep the committee "focused on a legitimate topic and objective."