House Speaker John Boehner instructed Rep. Trey Gowdy to "get to the bottom of Benghazi" after naming him to head an investigation into the attack, the South Carolina Republican said Tuesday.
Boehner appointed Gowdy on Monday to head a House select committee investigating the 2012 Benghazi attack where four Americans died.
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Boehner announced the formation of the committee May 2 following the release of an email that indicated the White House wanted to avoid describing the violence as a terrorist attack prior to the 2012 presidential election.
"I am not interested, nor did I sign up for a committee that is not going to get to the bottom of it. That's what the speaker told me, 'Get to the bottom of Benghazi,'" Gowdy told Fox News' "America's Newsroom."
Gowdy said his first task will be determining who will be on the committee and find out "what questions they have remaining" about the attack.
Gowdy said he hoped "Democrats participate," even though some have threatened to boycott the committee. The White House has also suggested it may not cooperate with the investigation. Gowdy said the Benghazi incident was not a "red or blue issue," but was an "American issue."
"I continue to think that some things transcend politics, like the murder of four of our fellow citizens and whether or not you can trust government," he said.
The investigation will include hearings, which Gowdy expects to be televised. He said lawmakers would also rely on depositions.
"Some of the stuff you will find to be interesting theater. And some of the stuff you will find to be pretty tedious and boring. But it's all important," he said.
Gowdy said he intended to question information technology personnel to "certify under penalty of perjury before Congress that they ran this search of their computer system and it kicked out these documents."
The investigation will include questioning "anyone who has evidence or information," Gowdy said. Many of the questions he has now are the same ones he had "20 months ago," he said.
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