Dem Senator Says GOP Wants Benghazi Committee Because… They Fear Hillary Clinton?

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) argued on Tuesday that Republicans are pushing for a Select Committee on Benghazi mostly because they want to hurt Hillary Clinton, who they fear will run for president in 2016 and win.

"This is a campaign tactic by my Republican colleagues to gin up their base ahead of the midterm election," Boxer said on the Senate floor Tuesday. "And by the way, look ahead to 2016 where they are filled with anxiety at the thought that the former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, may be the Democratic nominee."

Boxer said Clinton was the first to call for an investigation, and said Republicans should stop wasting time trying to embarrass her by seeking a new investigation.

"We don't need to spend money on another committee because someone is afraid of Hillary Clinton's candidacy. Just deal with it, OK?"

She said it's "scandalous" how Republicans are calling for a new committee, after dozens of briefings, 17 hearings, 25 interviews, thousand of pages subpoenaed, and six committee reports have been issued on the attacks. Boxer said enough is known about the attack and that Republicans need to move on.

"We know what happened," she said. "It was a terror attack on a facility that needed more protection."

Republicans were split on the need for a new committee until a few weeks ago, after emails were revealed showing that senior White House aides downplayed intelligence showing the 2012 attack was done by terrorists, and was not a response to an anti-Muslim video, as the White House first claimed. Those emails were not give over to Congress when it asked for all information, and instead were given to the government watchdog Judicial Watch.

That prompted House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to say a committee is needed to fully investigate the attacks and the White House response.

Earlier this month, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) announced that despite Congress's effort to investigate the attack, he still had 10 questions that have not yet been answered. Those include: when was President Barack Obama told about the attack, how officials were instructed to blame the attack on a video, why officials waited months to release pictures of the attackers, and why none of the attackers have been caught or killed.