The amount of taxpayer funding that has gone toward the investigation into the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, is less than the amount the federal government has invested in "Origami condoms" and studies on why lesbians are obese.
Democrats are very concerned that the Select Committee on Benghazi is wasting taxpayer dollars. Leading Senate Democrats, including Minority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.), are demanding that the RNC reimburse the government for the cost of the investigation.
Rep. Linda Sanchez (D., Calif.) said it was a "gross misuse" of millions in taxpayer dollars. Ranking Member of the Benghazi committee Elijah Cummings (D., Md.) began his opening statement during the hearing with Hillary Clinton on Thursday saying, "Republicans are squandering millions of taxpayer dollars on this abusive effort to derail Secretary Clinton's presidential campaign."
Democratic members of the committee now have a spending tracker, similar to a debt clock, showing the investigation’s costs in real time.
The clock showed the investigation has cost $4,809, 266 as of Thursday afternoon. The figure is more than $1 million less in taxpayer funds that were given to an accused conman to finance his condom inventions and studies into why the majority of lesbians are overweight.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) gave $2,466,482 to Daniel Resnic to develop three versions of the Origami condom, including the "first of its kind" anal condom. Resnic was later accused of wasting the money on full-body plastic surgery, trips to Costa Rica, parties at the Playboy mansion, and patents for inventions such as "rounded corners."
The NIH has also given $3,531,925 to researchers to determine why lesbians are obese and gay men are not. Results have included: gay men have a "greater desire for toned muscles" than straight men, lesbians have low "athletic self-esteem," and young men think about their muscles.
The Democratic members on the Benghazi committee also like to point out that the Benghazi investigation has lasted 532 Days, "longer than the investigations of Pearl Harbor, the Kennedy assassination, Iran-Contra, and Hurricane Katrina."
The federally funded investigation into lesbian obesity has lasted for 1,460 days, or four years since it began in September 2011.
These two projects cost taxpayers $5,998,407.
Democratic members have repeatedly complained that the investigation is a waste of taxpayer dollars since House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R., Calif.) comments that the Benghazi committee led to the revelation of Hillary Clinton’s private email server, and then brought her poll numbers down.
Chairman of the Benghazi committee Rep. Trey Gowdy (R., S.C.) has defended the committee as nonpolitical, and said McCarthy and others who are not on the committee "don't have any idea what they're talking about."
Gowdy said he has "zero interest" in the classification of emails that the FBI is currently investigating, or allegations of conflicts of interests with the Clinton Foundation.
"Four dead Americans is more than enough work for me," he said. "[Clinton is] a witness. She was the secretary of state. You have to talk to her. But we have already talked to 50 people not named Clinton. We're going to talk to another couple of dozen not named Clinton."