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Hillary agrees to testify before Congress — with a condition

Hillary agrees to testify before Congress — with a condition

It’s about to get real up on Capitol Hill

Hillary Clinton has finally agreed to testify before the House Select Committee on Benghazi.

Today, Hillary’s attorney David Kendall informed Chairman Gowdy that Mrs. Clinton will testify before Congress, but only once.

In a letter released to the public on March 31, the committee officially requested Mrs. Clinton’s presence for questioning. Committee Chairman Gowdy requested two interviews, a “private transcribed interview related to her email arrangement as well as her public appearance before the Committee.”

In his response, Mrs. Clinton’s attorney David Kendall wrote there was, “no basis, logic, or precedent for such an usual request,” saying Mrs. Clinton would be, “prepared to stay for the duration of the Committee’s questions on the day she appears.”

Hillary is not willing to further disclose correspondence, nor is she willing to allow a neutral third-party to inspect her email server(s). She and her counsel maintain the State Department’s records should satisfy any queries the Select Committee might have. And so the record retention ball gets lobbed back into the Department of State’s court.

Also relevant here is the OIG report released shortly after the revelation that Hillary had her own special private email server. As we discussed back in March:

The report also concluded that State Department employees were intentionally avoiding creating official email records, “because they do not want to make the email available in searches or fear that this availability would inhibit debate about pending decisions.”

So going back to the State Department in the hopes of any further substantive records retrieval? May as well go on a snipe hunt.

Kendall offered the week of May 18th or a later date for Clinton’s catch all public appearance before the House Committee.

Rep. Gowdy has yet to accept of Clinton’s single appearance offer. According to the Washington Times:

Mr. Gowdy’s spokesman said they have the letter but didn’t say whether they will accede to Mrs. Clinton’s demand, saying only they will take it “into consideration.”

“The committee has consistently shown it is interested in getting the facts and doing so in a deliberate and diligent manner,” said the spokesman, Jamal Ware. “As a result of the Benghazi Committee’s efforts, the American people now know about Secretary Clinton’s unusual email arrangement with herself, something that would not be known had the committee rushed to call the former secretary in November as committee Democrats pushed.”

Not specified is whether Mrs. Clinton will be under oath during the hearing. Rep. Gowdy and Speaker Boehner have indicated they would be willing to involve the entire House if necessary to obtain documentation and server access from Mrs. Clinton.

Meanwhile, on the eve the public release of ‘Clinton Cash,’ Peter Schweizer’s investigative tell-all about the Clinton Foundation, NBC just happens to be airing an ‘exclusive’ interview with President Clinton — the Slick Willie one, not the presumptive “what difference does it make?!” one.

In this totally coincidentally timed interview, Bill explains that he has no regrets about all the foreign cash they’ve taken. Not one.

Relatedly:

no regrets

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Comments

Why is Mr. Gowdy more concerned with Hilda-beast than Fast & Furious? Is it a jurisdictional thing about his committee, or what?

    Yeah, “Select Committee on Benghazi”. Sort of implies it has to do with Benghazi. It’s not the “Select Committee on Hillary”.

Because I’m sure she will tell the truth, right.

I gotta bridge to sell ya.

Is Hillary going on that 60’s cruise, the one advertised on the Fox Business channel?

Obama: “Not a smidgen of corruption”.
Hillary: “Not a shred of evidence”.
Bill: “Nothing sinister here”.
Alfred E. Neuman: “What, me worry?”

Ragspierre | May 4, 2015 at 8:34 pm

If this is the attitude of Ol’ Walleyes when she’s at least PRETENDING to be a populist “good ol’ gal”…

imagine the haughty heights of her Imperium if the immense mistake of putting her in ANY Federal office again were made.

What condescension… What arrogance.

I predict two answers will be flip-flopped between for the entire session.
1) Variations of “I can’t remember.”
2) Long, indeterminate ramblings without any point.

And from then on, the narrative will be “But Hillary already testified! Leave her alone, you big meanies!”

    MarkS in reply to georgfelis. | May 4, 2015 at 9:22 pm

    and probably a #3: “There is no evidence that……” Because those servers were wiped clean, really clean!

I expect some hard and persistent questioning.

A large six-figure donation to the CGI might get Gowdy a personally signed 8 x 10 glossy of Hilly & Willy, but he has absolutely no chance of ever hearing truth pass from the lips of either Clinton. It’s just not going to happen. Gowdy is just a congressman, when what he really needs is an exorcist.

Sammy Finkelman | May 5, 2015 at 12:46 am

If she is going to be asked about the emails, she wants the questioners to be unprepared for her answers, and probably afraid of being outwitted.

Gowdy should offer to send committee staff to her for the private interview, wherever she happens to be.

It is absolutely necessary to get her on the record first. Her answers will determine the course of the investigation and enable sensible follow-ups at the public hearing.

– –

That is exactly what she wishes to avoid, naturally. If she can limit it to one public show, she can grandstand and lash out at the committee as a partisan witch hunt.

If they have her answers to prepare with and ask direct follow-ups, that would be hard to pull off.

Gowdy and Boehner ready to use entire House to obtain emails and servers…. .
Seems to me a couple of sherrif’s deputies and a mini-van would be sufficient. Washington fiddles while MD and TX burn.

Henry Hawkins | May 5, 2015 at 10:11 am

The first course of action is to determine whether Hillary floats.

Phillep Harding | May 5, 2015 at 4:04 pm

Is that photo supposed to be “No Regrets” or “No Rugrats”?