After questions about whether Democrats would take part in the select committee tasked with investigating Benghazi and the aftermath of the attacks, Nancy Pelosi announced the five members who will fill out the twelve-person committee led by Representative Trey Gowdy (R., S.C.). They are:
‐Adam Smith of Washington
Three of the selected Democrats currently hold leadership positions on their respective committees: Cummings, Sánchez, and Smith serve as ranking members of the Oversight, Ethics, and Armed Services committees, respectively. Cummings’s and Smith’s committees have previously held hearings on the September 11 attacks and the administration’s handling in its aftermath.
Meanwhile, Schiff had initially urged Democrats to boycott the select committee, but will now serve on it.
The Democrats will join seven Republicans, including Gowdy: Indiana’s Susan Brooks, Ohio’s Jim Jordan, Kansas’s Mike Pompeo, Illinois’s Peter Roskam, Alabama’s Martha Roby, and Georgia’s Lynn Westmoreland.