Politics

Boehner reassures skeptical Republicans he wants the ‘truth’ about Benghazi

Alex Pappas Political Reporter
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WASHINGTON — Speaker of the House John Boehner on Thursday sought to reassure skeptical members of his own party that he is doing enough to learn about what really happened during last year’s attack on the American consulate in Libya.

“We’re determined to get to the truth regarding the terrorist attack on our mission in Benghazi, Libya, in which three Americans lost their lives,” Boehner said during a press conference Thursday.

He announced that he expects the five House committees he directed to learn more about the attacks to release a “comprehensive progress report on the investigation up to now” next week.

“This progress report will not represent the conclusion of their investigation, but it’ll be the beginning of what I’d describe as the next phase,” he said.

Boehner’s comments follow a report in this week in The Hill that the Republican “is trying to head off a GOP rebellion over his handling of the investigation” by asking the committees to release information now.

More than 100 Republicans have signed on to a resolution calling for a new select committee in the House to investigate the Sept. 11, 2012 attacks. Boehner has said the committee would be too costly and time consuming.

But on Thursday, he said the five committees would continue to look at the case.

“This is a matter of national security and national importance. And our investigation will in fact continue,” he said.

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