Special to WorldTribune.com

The chairman of the House Select Committee on Benghazi said the panel is not on a political witch hunt against Hillary Clinton but is determined to get to the truth of what happened when four Americans were killed in the terror attack on Sept. 11, 2012.

The focus of the Benghazi hearing is to find “the truth about request for additional security” and “the truth about where and why our military was positioned as it was,” Rep. Trey Gowdy said on Oct. 22 as Clinton was called to testify before the panel.

“Our committee has interviewed half a hundred witnesses, not a single one of them has been named Clinton until today,” Gowdy said.

“You were the secretary of state for this country when our facility was attacked. So, of course this committee is going to talk to you. You are an important witness, but you are just one important witness, among half a hundred important witnesses.

“I understand you wanted to come sooner than today so let me be clear why that did not happen. You had an unusual email arrangement with yourself, which meant the State Department could not produce your emails to us.

“You made exclusive use of personal email and a personal server. When you left the State Department you kept those public records to yourself for almost two years. You and your attorneys decided what to return and what to delete. Those decisions were your decisions, not ours. It was only in March of this year we learned of this email arrangement. Since we learned of your email arrangement we have interviewed dozens of witnesses, only one of whom was about your email arrangement, and that was a very short interview because he invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.”

Gowdy said the committee most wanted to hear the truth from Clinton on how four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, were killed in Benghazi in a terror attack the then-secretary of state falsely blamed on a spontaneous response to a YouTube video.

The South Carolina Republican also called into questioned Clinton’s most likely defense, the findings of the Accountability Review Board (ARB) that investigated the attacks in the immediate aftermath.

“You will hear a lot today about the Accountability Review Board,” he said. “But when you hear about the ARB, you should also know the State Department leadership handpicked the members of the ARB.”

Critics of Gowdy’s committee say it is only rehashing the work of previous panels. There have been seven other congressional committees dealing with the Benghazi attack.

“It should make you wonder why those investigations failed to interview so many witnesses,” Gowdy said, noting his panel has conducted interviews with dozens of new witnesses. “How did they miss Ambassador Stevens’ emails? How did they miss Secretary Clinton’s emails?”

  Gowdy to Hillary: You are just one of ‘half a hundred’ witnesses on Benghazi, House Select Committee on Benghazi, Trey Gowdy, WorldTribune.com