During Sunday’s one-on-one interview with Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), Fox News Sunday’s host Chris Wallace did his very best to try to reignite the debate over Benghazi. Wallace had Rogers on ostensibly to discuss the current situation with Russia and Ukraine. Also, Rogers, the current Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, made news recently by announcing he is retiring from Congress at the end of his term so he can host a conservative radio talk show. Obviously, that would also be a topic of discussion.
However, Wallace decided to also use his time with Rogers to bring up Benghazi and the fact that Rogers has more hearings scheduled on the attack that killed four Americans in September 2012. Below is an excerpt from the show’s transcript:
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WALLACE: Congressman, let’s turn to the Benghazi terror attack, because the former acting director of the CIA, Michael Morrell, is going to be testifying before your House Intelligence Committee this weekend open hearing. Question, what do you want to find out from him?
ROGERS: Well, we’ve had two hearings with Michael Morell both in a classified setting. And I thought it was inappropriate. So, his last time testifying in front of the committee in a classified session, we’ve had some additional information. I think it’s important for him to have the opportunity to answer questions on the public record and allow the public to see, you know, the House Intelligence Committee has done more investigative work, more public hearings — excuse me, more hearings, more committee time hearings, more subcommittee hearings than all the other committees.
WALLACE: But is there a specific — sir, is there a specific question or a specific issue that you want to resolve with him?
ROGERS: Well, I think we do. There’s — the fact of the memo and the talking points is important. Many believe that there was political influence on the changing of those talking points in that particular — in the day that’s happened right after the event.
We need to make sure if that in fact is not true. Additionally, you know, we know that facts on the ground said, hey, that the State Department folks were requesting help and didn’t get it. We need to try to make sure Americans and the committee fully understand that link and why that didn’t happen.
Was it anything that the CIA did leading up to the event or was this completely a State Department failure when these folks were asking for additional security and somebody in that chain of command for security clearly didn’t — ignored the threats, ignored the intelligence and unfortunately at least contributed to the death of four Americans?
Sigh. Conservatives just cannot let Benghazi go, can they? Republicans have beaten this dead horse for far too long, yet it appears they are not quite done with it. Congressional Republicans have conducted around 50 hearings on the attack and the Pentagon has blasted Congress for spending millions of dollars on these repetitive and unproductive hearings. Rogers and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, have conducted this dog and pony show for well over a year, all in an effort to try to damage President Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton politically.
Wallace was just carrying water for the GOP on Sunday. He sees that Benghazi has gone far past its expiration date. However, he also knows that Republicans need something to hit Hillary with in 2016. This is really all they have, unless they want to go the Rand Paul route and try to talk smack about the extremely popular Bill Clinton, which just seems like an unbelievably dumb approach. Therefore, might as well try to keep Benghazi alive as a potential issue. Wallace is always a good little servant for his Republican masters.
Just to show how much of a GOP honk he really is, Wallace kissed up to Rogers at the end of the interview and even tried to convince him to run for President in 2016.
WALLACE: I have to do the kind of thing that you’re going to do when you’re on this side of the microphone, because I noticed when you were talking about the conversation, you talked about New Hampshire and Iowa, just as random states. And, you know, Ronald Reagan back in 1980, I don’t have to tell you, used his platform as a radio commentator to run for president.
So is that a consideration for you? Are you prepared at this point to rule out any interest in 2016?
ROGERS: Ronald Reagan used his platform on radio to run for president of the United States? I had no idea, Chris.
…
WALLACE: I think — first of all, you’ve always been a great congressman and great guest. I suspect you’re going to be successful as a talk show host.
Congressman Rogers, thank you. It’s always good to talk with you, sir. I’m sure we’ll get the chance to do it again before you start your new career.
ROGERS: I hope so. Thanks, Chris.
Yep, Wallace sure is a fair and impartial host. Very friendly, as long as you are a Republican. Not sure if I’ve ever seen him give such a rousing endorsement of a Democrat like the one he gave Rogers at the end of their interview.
Justin Baragona is the Managing Editor at Politicus Sports as well as Senior Editor at PoliticusUSA. He was a political writer for 411Mania.com before joining PoliticusUSA. Politically, Justin considers himself a liberal but also a realist and pragmatist. Currently, Justin lives in St. Louis, MO and is married. Besides writing, he also runs his own business after spending a number of years in the corporate world. You can follow Justin on Twitter either with his personal handle (@justinbaragona) or the Sports site’s (@PoliticusSports).
