After last week's hearing, Democrats are no longer considering quitting the Benghazi Committee due to the perceived partisan nature of its investigation into Hillary Clinton, which they have referred to as a witch hunt. Instead, House Democrats plan to keep their positions so they can "defend the truth."
"We have decided to stay on the committee because somebody has to be in the room to defend the truth," Rep. Elijah Cummings (D., Md.) told Chuck Todd Sunday on Meet The Press. "You really did need to have Democrats in the room … to make sure the complete picture was painted."
Todd called out the Benghazi Committee Democrats for not taking the investigation seriously and instead using their time to attack committee Republicans and defend the witness, who the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for president.
"We tallied up 68 total questions to Secretary Clinton [from Democrats]," Todd said. "Sixteen of them, at best, could we call challenging. Why did you guys choose a strategy of shield rather than a strategy of, really what Tammy Duckworth did, probably the one Democrat that did it the most, of conducting a hearing, asking questions about the security situation?"
The Washington Post analyzed Democrats’ performance Thursday and found they spoke twice as long and allowed Clinton to speak three times longer, on average, than when Republicans were recognized. In fact, in one instance Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) spoke more than 1,100 words before asking Clinton, "I wonder if you would like to comment on what it's like to be the subject of an allegation that you deliberately interfered with security that cost the life of a friend."
Rep. Linda Sanchez (D., Calif.) was the only Democrat to ask Clinton more than ten questions in a hearing that spanned nine hours. Sanchez’s questions were designed to help promote Clinton’s narrative of how events unfolded before, during, and after the terrorist attack on September 11, 2012. Many found that only Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D., Md.) decided to ask about legitimate security inquiries regarding Benghazi.
The majority of the time was spent complaining about Benghazi Committee chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy (R., S.C.).
Cummings, Schiff, and Sanchez engaged in arguments with the chairman as Clinton looked on with a smile. From the very first hour, Rep. Adam Smith (D., Wa.) repeatedly said the hearing had turned up no new information on Benghazi, despite evidence to the contrary.
Another major complaint from the Democrats was the cost of the committee. A Free Beacon analysis found the federal government spent less on investigating the terrorist attack that killed four Americans than investments in "origami condoms" and studying "why lesbians are obese." The total cost of the committee is believed to be $4,809,266 while the two projects highlighting government waste cost taxpayers $5,998,407.