State Dept. security officers union endorses Benghazi select committee

The union representing the State Department’s security officers has endorsed House Republicans’ call for a special panel to investigate the Obama administration’s handling of Benghazi.

J. Adler, the national president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, wrote to Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) on Friday to call for a “bipartisan” select committee to be formed “immediately.” The union represents 26,000 federal officers, including those working for the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security.

“In supporting this measure, I would expect full bipartisan cooperation of both parties, and save the sticks and stones feuding for trivial matters,” Adler wrote. “We have grieving family members and a seriously injured DSS [Diplomatic Security Service] Special Agent that deserve the unwavering respect and commitment of our Congress. Our heroes didn’t take pause while confronting fatal risk. Congress should not take pause in confronting the need to properly investigate this matter.”

{mosads}Two former Navy SEALs working as independent contractors for the CIA, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, were killed in the attack on the U.S. mission last Sept. 11. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and Information Management Officer Sean Smith were also killed. 

Adler’s letter comes as 154 House Republicans – two-thirds of the Conference – have signed on to Wolf’s resolution calling for the creation of a select committee. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) opposes the creation of the special panel, saying the five committees of jurisdiction can handle the investigation. 

Republicans have rekindled their probe in recent weeks, with three State Department whistle-blowers testifying before the House oversight panel last week. The Obama administration has responded by redoubling its efforts to paint the investigation as politically motivated, with the president this week calling it a “sideshow” and the White House releasing 100 pages of internal documents about its talking points. 

“The production of 1,000 documents by the State Department and the administration, as well as the testimony of former Secretary [of State Hillary] Clinton, has proven insufficient in addressing numerous unanswered questions,” Adler wrote. “When the questions involve the fatalities of two heroic SEALS, as well as the injuries of brave DSS Special Agents, every government resource should be committed towards answering them.

“We don’t kick heroes under the carpet because we find an investigative inquiry administratively inconvenient.”

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