WASHINGTON — Representative Nancy Pelosi of California on Wednesday appointed a full slate of senior House Democrats to a special committee investigating the 2012 attack on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, surprising some in her party by giving legitimacy to an inquiry many had dismissed as a political stunt. “We need someone in that room to simply defend the truth,” said Representative Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, who was appointed to the special committee. Emissaries from Hillary Rodham Clinton’s political camp also made it clear to the House Democratic leadership that they wanted Democrats in the room as the special committee deliberated, a senior Democratic leadership aide said. The announcement comes after Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) met for an hour Tuesday to negotiate over the probe. The Democrats chosen were Mr. Cummings, who clashed repeatedly over Benghazi with the chairman of the Oversight Committee, Representative Darrell Issa of California; Adam Smith of Washington, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee; Adam B. Schiff of California, a member of the Intelligence Committee; Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a decorated and severely wounded combat veteran of the Iraq war; and Linda T. Sánchez of California, the ranking Democrat on the Ethics Committee.
– Democrats have chosen their Benghazi strategy: Instead of boycotting a special committee set up by Republicans to investigate the attack, they're going to play along. Nancy Pelosi today picked five Democrats to sit on the panel following what Politico calls a "heated debate" within the party on the best way to proceed. The New York Times sums up the rationale: While deciding to participate lends credibility to the panel, Democrats now have a chance "to influence the direction of the hearings and get access to documents and other evidence that could be presented." The individuals selected also are notable because four of them have served on committees that have previously investigated Benghazi and thus will be able to call out committee chair Trey Gowdy if he traffics in old news, notes the Times. The five are Elijah Cummings, Adam Smith, Adam Schiff, Linda Sanchez, and Tammy Duckworth, reports the Wall Street Journal. The committee will meet for the first time tomorrow.