Trey Gowdy: ‘Stand Down’ Theory On Benghazi Not True

Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, who chairs the House committee investigating the Benghazi attacks of 2012, has stated that there was no way for military forces to have responded to the attack on the U.S. consulate in time. He nonetheless has pushed for the investigation to continue (video below).

On May 16, newly-released transcripts revealed that retired Army general Dana Chipman, who was the House Select Committee on Benghazi’s former chief Republican investigator, had said that nothing could have been done to save those killed during the Benghazi attack, CNN reports.

While interviewing former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta in January, Chipman agreed that “nothing could have affected what occurred in Benghazi.”

“I think you ordered exactly the right forces to move out and to head toward a position where they could reinforce what was occurring in Benghazi or in Tripoli or elsewhere in the region,” Chipman told Panetta at that time.

Gowdy responded to Chipman’s assessment, saying Chipman had been quoted out of context. The congressman also said the committee was investigating why there had not been enough personnel and resources posted near the consulate.

“Whether or not they could have gotten there in time, I don’t think there is any issue with respect to that,” Gowdy told Fox News. “They couldn’t.”

The congressman’s comments seem to contradict the crux of the Benghazi investigation, which has long questioned whether or not military personnel around the consulate had the opportunity to save lives but were told to stand down for political reasons.

Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the highest-ranking Democrat of the Benghazi committee, released a statement slamming Gowdy’s admission, USA Today reports.

“Chairman Gowdy has finally admitted what we have all known for years: the central Republican allegation that the military was told to withhold assets that could have saved lives in Benghazi for political reasons is wrong,” Cummings said.

Spokesman Matt Wolking of the Benghazi committee Republicans released a countering statement.

“Chairman Gowdy said nothing new today, despite Democrats’ distortions,” Wolking said.

The verbal sparring between the two congressmen is occurring while Gowdy is seeking to question new witnesses in relation to the investigation, despite Democrats’ protests that the committee has already questioned nearly 100 individuals.

“I would rather risk interviewing a witness in good faith, who ultimately produces little probative information, than risk not interviewing one who does,” Gowdy wrote in a letter to Secretary of Defense Ash Carter on May 6.

Sources: CNN, Fox News via YouTube, USA Today / Photo Credit: Fox News via YouTube