Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, issued the following statement in response to the public release by Chairman Issa of a portion of a State Department e-mail that he claimed proved that the White House engaged in “a false narrative" after contacting YouTube with concerns about an anti-Islamic video during the attacks in Benghazi:
“This latest document leak makes the strongest case yet for Democrats seeking procedures to protect against these kinds of abuses. In what has become an irresponsible pattern, Chairman Issa unilaterally released a cherry-picked document excerpt-claiming it means one thing when in fact it means the opposite-and he disregarded the fact that his ‘new evidence’ was reported publicly two years ago. He did this without consulting Democrats, and it is unclear whether he even consulted Rep. Gowdy, who also sits on the Oversight Committee. These actions undermine the credibility of both the Oversight Committee and the new Select Committee, and Speaker Boehner should uphold his promise to end this circus."
Several press reports have already debunked Issa’s claim, including Media Matters and The New Republic.
