Boehner calls for House select committee to investigate Benghazi attacks

MUSTAFA EL-SHRIDI/EPA

House Speaker John Boehner announced on Friday the formation a select committee to investigate the 2012 Benghazi attacks, accusing the Obama White House of 'misleading the American people' by witholding emails relating to the Benghazi incident that only just surfaced this week.

'Americans learned this week that the Obama Administration is so intent on obstructing the truth about Benghazi that it is even willing to defy subpoenas issued by the standing committees of the People's House,' Boehner (R-Ohio) said Friday in a statement.

'In light of these new developments, the House will vote to establish a new select committee to investigate the attack, provide the necessary accountability, and ensure justice is finally served ... This dismissiveness and evasion requires us to elevate the investigation to a new level. I intend for this select committee to have robust authority, and I will expect it to work quickly to get answers for the American people and the families of the victims.'

The Congressional call for the select committee came hours after Rep. Darrell Issa, Republican chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, issued a subpoena for Secretary of State John Kerry to testify on the deadly attacks.

The California Congressman wants Kerry to appear before the panel on May 21 and answer questions on why emails, released this week by a conservative watchdog, were omitted from the Benghazi-related documents that were subpoenaed by the committee in August 2013.

'The fact that these documents were withheld from Congress for more than 19 months is alarming,' Issa wrote in a letter to Kerry.

'The Department is not entitled to delay responsive materials because it is embarrassing or implicates the roles and actions of senior officials.'

Among the emails that emerged this week was a note from then-deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes, dated September 14, that represented White House suggestions for U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice's talking points.

WITH NEWS WIRE SERVICES