Select Committee Interviews Anti-Clinton Air Base Mechanic After Issuing “Final” Report

WASHINGTON—Yesterday, after releasing what they claimed would be the “definitive accounting” of the Benghazi attacks, Select  Committee Republicans held yet another interview with a mechanic who served at a U.S. air base in Europe and then posted allegations on Facebook that planes could have been deployed to Benghazi sooner.

During the interview, Republicans entered into the record a January 18, 2016 Facebook post in which the mechanic questioned whether fighter jets did not provide air support in Benghazi because “we have a corrupt government with disregard to human life, that looks at us as tools on the physical side of their political battles.”  

Republicans marked the mechanic’s Facebook post as “Exhibit 2” and then proceeded to ask him questions about it. 

Exhibit 2 included at the end of the Facebook post the following hashtag:  #ifyouvoteforhillaryyouarebeyondstupid.

During further questioning, the mechanic acknowledged that he in fact included this anti-Clinton hashtag at the end of his Facebook post.

The mechanic’s full Facebook post—which Republicans entered into the interview record—is posted below: 

After the interview—and despite the fact that they introduced this Facebook post into the interview record—Republicans issued a background memo to press claiming that the fact that the post included the anti-Clinton hashtag was “a total lie” that Democrats tried to “invent.”

Although their own staff introduced this exhibit and asked questions about it, the Republican memo to press inaccurately stated:  “There is no hashtag in the only relevant Facebook post.”

Republicans were attempting to redirect attention to a second Facebook post that was also written by the mechanic and was also discussed during the interview.

A Democratic spokesperson issued the following statement:

“Just to be 100% clear, it was the Republicans who introduced this specific Facebook post into the interview record—with the anti-Clinton hashtag—not the Democrats.  The Republicans now seem to be lashing out wildly at anything they can, but if they ever release this transcript, it will clearly show that the statements in their memo to the press are inaccurate.”