Top Democrat on House Benghazi panel: ‘What have we accomplished?’

The top Democrat on the House committee investigating the Benghazi attacks is ripping the panel on the eve of its one-year anniversary, suggesting the effort has been a waste of time.

“What have we accomplished? After a full year, it now seems obvious that this investigation is being dragged out in order to attack [former] Secretary [of State Hillary] Clinton and her campaign for president — squandering millions of taxpayer dollars in the process — while Republicans use this tragedy to raise campaign funds,” Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the ranking member on the House Select Committee on Benghazi, said Thursday in a statement.

{mosads}“This is exactly the opposite of what we promised the victims’ families, and I urge the Select Committee to drop this political charade and focus on implementing reforms that will protect our diplomatic corps around the world,” he added.

His tough words come as panel chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) weighs when to schedule Clinton’s long-awaited testimony before the committee.

In recent months, Gowdy has insisted that the former secretary of State, who is now running for the presidency, would have to testify at least twice; once to discuss her use of a personal email server while in office, and a second time to go over the assault that left four Americans dead.

However, earlier this week Clinton’s attorney sent a strongly worded letter to Gowdy saying the 2016 hopeful would only appear once.

A panel spokesman said the select committee would take the letter “into consideration” and that Gowdy would “issue a statement on behalf of the Committee regarding the path forward.”

The House voted 232-186 on May 18, 2014, to create a select committee to investigate the attack, with seven Democrats voting in favor.

Democrats initially threatened to boycott the panel, arguing that the investigation was a partisan witchhunt designed to hurt Clinton’s White House chances.

The panel has not met since January. Its last hearing was a marked departure from previous meetings, with Democrats and Republicans throwing partisan barbs at one another.