Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Rep. Steve Israel (D., N.Y.) falsely claimed Democrats have not used Congressional Select Committees as a tool for fundraising.
Israel, appearing Monday on MSNBC, was asked by NOW host Alex Wagner to react to Rep. Trey Gowdy's (R., S.C.) assertion Democrats have "selective amnesia" over their criticism of the NRCC's Benghazi fundraising.
"Well, he's just flat wrong," Israel said. "This was a tragedy that should not be exploited by the NRCC based on this permanent Select Committee."
Wagner interjected "I wanted to ask you though, I’ve seen DCCC ads that talk about NRCC fundraising off of this, so isn’t that just a vicious cycle?"
"No, Alex, we are not raising money off of a permanent Select Committee, that is supposed to be fair, balanced, and bi-partisan. We have not done that, Republicans in Congress have done just that," Israel replied.
However, it turns out the DCCC has actually used Select Committees to fundraise in several instances.
In 2004, the DCCC posted two press releases from Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) and Rep. Henry Waxman (D., Calif.) calling for a Select Committees to investigate allegations of prisoner abuse at GITMO and Abu Ghraib, Iraq. At the top right corner of both pages is a conspicuous "CONTRIBUTE NOW" button:
In addition to using calls for select committees to fundraise, Democrats have a recent history of politicizing national tragedies to fill their campaign coffers.
Israel's contention his party has not used national tragedies or Select Committees to fundraise is categorically false.