Fired GOP staffer: Benghazi probe politicized

WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 (UPI) — A former GOP staffer on the House Select Committee on Benghazi says he was fired because he didn’t go along with efforts by Republican panel members to politicize the process and steer the focus of the investigation onto former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Bradley Podliska, an Air Force Reserve major, told reporters he plans to file a federal lawsuit over his firing next month.

“My non-partisan investigative work conflicted with the interests of the Republican leadership, who focused their investigation primarily on Secretary Clinton and her aides,” Podliska said in a released statement.

“The families of the Americans who died in the Benghazi attacks deserve to find out the truth about Benghazi, but to do that a thorough, non-partisan investigation must be conducted of all agencies and officials involved in Benghazi,” the former committee aide added.

The House committee vehemently denied the accusations, claiming in a statement released to the press that Podliska was in fact fired for his own attempts at politicization.

The panel said Podliska was fired for cause, for “repeated efforts, of his own volition, to develop and direct committee resources to a PowerPoint ‘hit piece’ on members of the Obama administration, including Secretary Clinton, that bore no relationship whatsoever to the committee’s current investigative tone, focus or investigative plan.”

“Thus, directly contrary to his brand-new assertion, the employee actually was terminated, in part, because he himself manifested improper partiality and animus in his investigative work,” committee members said in a statement.

The fresh allegations come as Democrats continue to characterize the investigation as a political witch hunt — and just days after House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., insinuated that the panel had accomplished its aims of hurting Hillary politically.

“Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? We put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee,” McCarthy said in a TV interview on September 29. “What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping. Why? ‘Cause she is untrustable. But no one would’ve known any of that had happened had we not fought and made that happen.”