When the state polling averages showed Hillary Clinton with a comfortable lead in the key battlegrounds states post-party conventions this fall, even Fox News pundits grew weary of House Republicans' continued investigations into the Democratic presidential nominee.
"You guys have got to stop going after her for everything little thing," Fox News host Kennedy told House Oversight Committee chairman Jason Chaffetz during an August appearance on "Outnumbered."
"Every single time congress goes after [Clinton] and it doesn't stick," Kennedy complained, "only makes her look more like a victim and it allows her to feel more emboldened and more entitled." The Fox News host went on to argue that a continued investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server even after FBI Director James Comey stated she did not break the law would be perceived by the public as a continued political witch hunt. Chaffetz disagreed.
Of course, Chaffetz had to deny that Republicans seemingly constant investigations into the former secretary of state had anything to do with politics. After all, Chaffetz, a member of leadership, watched as Republican Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy lost his bid for Speaker of the House before officially declaring his candidacy when he boasted on Fox News that Republicans' Benghazi special committee was created to have voters believe she is "untrustable."
“But no one would have known any of that had happened, had we not fought,” McCarthy boasted to Sean Hannity last fall.
Now that the once unthinkable is reality, Chaffetz is scrambling to appear principled and is sticking to his commitment that Republicans will continue their investigations even after accomplishing their mission.
"It would be totally remiss of us to dismiss [the email investigation] because she’s not going to be president," he told the Washington Post on Wednesday. “I still have a duty and obligation to get to the truth about one of the largest breaches of security at the State Department."
Chaffetz said that “tens of thousands of documents still have not been turned over to Congress. The Utah Republican who waffled over his endorsement of the GOP nominee after the Access Hollywood tape was published, said that "a Trump administration would be cooperative in getting these floodgates to open as they should."
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