Pelosi Sends Letter to Boehner on Proposal for Select Committee on Benghazi
Below is the full text of the letter:
May 9, 2014
The Honorable John Boehner
Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives
H-232, The Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Speaker Boehner,
On Tuesday, Democratic Whip Hoyer and I sent you a letter requesting a minimum standard for us to proceed with a bipartisan investigation to be conducted in a fair, open and balanced manner. In that letter, we asked that Democrats have a real voice on the committee, including on (1) the issuance of subpoenas, (2) the manner in which witnesses would be questioned and deposed, and (3) the specific protocols governing how documents and other information would be obtained, used, and potentially released by the committee.
On Wednesday, you called to suggest that you and I meet to find a path forward. You also suggested that our staffs undertake preliminary work in advance of our meeting, and on Thursday they met.
Today, we received a proposed Memorandum of Understanding from your staff, and the House Democratic leadership has reviewed it.
Regrettably, the proposal does not prevent the unacceptable and repeated abuses committed by Chairman Issa in any meaningful way, and we find it fundamentally unfair.
The American people deserve and expect us to work together in a fair, balanced and open manner. For the sake of the families of the brave Americans who died in this tragedy, this process must not be politicized.
I look forward to meeting with you as you suggested so we can find a way forward that is worthy of the sacrifice of our heroes who lost their lives in Benghazi and their families. I am still hopeful we can reach an agreement. Thank you for your immediate attention.
best regards,
NANCY PELOSI
Democratic Leader