The House committee investigating the Benghazi attacks that killed four Americans has received more than 4,000 pages of documents from the State Department, Chairman Trey Gowdy said Thursday.
The trove came two years after the panel first subpoenaed the documents, the South Carolina Republican said. He declined to characterize the nature of the papers, but said it included communications from the State Department's Benghazi Accountability Review Board (ARB).
The panel initially investigated the 2012 assaults that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others, including two former Navy SEALs.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton headed the State Department at the time. She announced her candidacy for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination earlier this month.
"The Benghazi committee continues to build the most comprehensive and complete record on what happened before, during, and after the Benghazi terrorist attacks," Gowdy said.
"Contrary to those who said all had been asked and answered, the Benghazi Committee has shown there is more still for Congress to consider.
"The committee will provide the final, definitive accounting of what happened with regards to Benghazi, reaching conclusions based solely on facts," he added. "Getting this production from State’s Benghazi ARB is an important part of ensuring the committee has access to all the facts."
The chairman added that the panel was still waiting for the State Department to produce additional documents that had earlier been requested or subpoenaed.
"I appreciate the historic nature of State’s document production and recognize the importance of State’s response," Gowdy said. "It is my desire to see similar breakthroughs reached on the committee’s outstanding document requests and subpoenas.
"If State will work with the committee, we can expedite the pace of the committee’s work," he said.
A Democratic aide to the Benghazi committee told Newsmax that the new documents "support the unanimous findings of the board, which identified no evidence to support claims that Secretary Clinton ordered a stand-down, personally denied security requests, oversaw a covert weapons program, or any of the other wild claims Republicans have been making for months."
Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings is the panel's top Democrat.
Cummings, however, slammed a Republican anti-Clinton super PAC for trying to raise money off the Benghazi attacks.
"This shameless new fundraising effort reveals just how closely intertwined the Benghazi Select Committee is with Republican political attacks against Hillary Clinton," Cummings said. "Raising political cash off the deaths of four brave Americans is offensive and sickening, and Chairman Gowdy should put an end to it immediately."
He was referencing an ad by
the Stop Hillary PAC that includes a picture of Gowdy and the words, "I support and uphold the Benghazi Select Committee Chairman, Congressman Trey Gowdy, in his pursuit of the truth and justice for all those involved."
The ad then seeks email and other personal information.
Cummings noted that Gowdy told MSNBC in May that "I have never sought to raise a single penny on the backs of four murdered Americans,"
Mediaite reports.
The congressman said the Stop Hillary PAC had delivered petitions with more than 264,000 signatures last September insisting that Gowdy subpoena Clinton to testify. The next day, Cummings said, Gowdy approached him about seeking Clinton's testimony.
Last month, Gowdy canceled an appearance at a "Beyond Benghazi" fundraiser for the Republican Party of Virginia after news reports surfaced, Cummings said.
He also noted that an attack ad referencing Benghazi was released earlier this month by the Republican National Committee.
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