"If Republicans win a Senate majority in 2014, one of the first things I will insist on is hearings that actually get to the bottom of what happened before, during, and after the Benghazi attack. The families of those who lost loved ones, and the American people, deserve nothing less than a full accounting."
If Republicans win a Senate majority in 2014, I will insist on holding hearings to get to the bottom of what happened before, during, and after the Benghazi attack and provide a full accounting.
Occurrences
Evidence
legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown
Sen. Lindsey Graham said that if Republicans won a Senate majority in 2014, he would insist on hearings to get to the bottom of what happened before, during, and after the Benghazi attack and provide a full accounting.
legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown
The House Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi conducted extended hearings and issued a final report (H. Rept. 114-848), published December 7, 2016.
legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown
Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi; subject matter: testimony of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; October 22, 2015.
legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown
Graham commended Chairman Trey Gowdy and the House Select Committee on Benghazi, saying Gowdy established what happened before, during, and after the attack.
Assessments
Republicans won the Senate majority after the 2014 election, and Benghazi oversight hearings and a final accounting occurred in 2015-2016, during Graham's next Senate term. However, the cited hearings and final report were produced by the House Select Committee, not Senate hearings Graham personally secured or led. Graham publicly pressed for a full accounting and later endorsed the House committee's work, so the promised outcome was partly achieved with some candidate effort, but the federal office context does not support full delivery credit.
Republicans did win the Senate in 2014, and extensive Benghazi hearings and a final report were produced during the 2015-2016 Congress. But the clearest documented fulfillment in the record is the House Select Committee's work, not Senate hearings that Graham himself secured, led, or materially drove to completion. That means the promised accountability effort substantially occurred in the same term, but the available evidence does not support giving Graham full credit for delivering it himself.
Graham explicitly pledged in 2014 that if Republicans won a Senate majority he would insist on hearings and a full accounting for Benghazi. Republicans did take Senate control after the 2014 election. Extensive post-2014 hearings and a final investigative report (H. Rept. 114-848) were completed in 2015–2016, providing the substantive "full accounting" the promise sought. However, those prolonged hearings and the final report were conducted by a House Select Committee, not the Senate, and there is limited evidence that Graham himself led or secured a Senate-led set of hearings that directly produced the outcome. Because the promised outcome (comprehensive hearings/reporting) was achieved largely through other congressional actors rather than through a clear, material accomplishment by Graham in the Senate, the claim is partially fulfilled. Timing is same_term because the investigations and final report were completed during the congressional term following the 2014 election. The effort_badge is set true because Graham publicly pledged and advocated for the oversight action.