Democratic game plan to denounce the Benghazi committee

— Inside the Democratic game plan to denounce  the Benghazi committee: House Democrats will intensify the pressure on Republicans over their handling of the Benghazi committee in the run-up to Hillary Clinton’s Oct. 22testimony.

Step 1: In the opening salvo of a two-week campaign to discredit the former secretary of state’s interlocutors, the ranking Democrat on the Benghazi committee yesterday released a partial transcript of former Clinton chief of staff Cheryl Mills’ testimony. His aim is to rebut selective leaks by the GOP. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) says he’ll release the entire transcript in five days if chairman Trey Gowdy does not respond, thereby keeping his counteroffensive in the news.

Step 2: Leadership is searching for a rank-and-file member to file an ethics complaint alleging that the Gowdy committee’s taxpayer-funded work is misappropriating public funds because it is political in nature. Democrats won’t have the votes to pass such a measure, but they’ll get the headlines they’re looking for.

Step 3: Another option being actively considered is for a Democratic member tofile a privileged resolution that could call for a rebuke of Kevin McCarthy over his gaffe and/or for disbanding the Benghazi panel. Though neither will pass, it will force the GOP rank-and-file to take multiple, uncomfortable votes of confidence in their new leader.

Step 4: Get everyone on the same page. Democrats are also being provided with talking points to attack the Republicans on the Benghazi committee as overzealous, modern-day McCarthyites. (For these purposes, it helps that the Speaker Apparent is actually named McCarthy…though no one thinks Joe would have gaffed the way Kevin did last week by acknowledging the political advantages of a congressional investigation.)

• One favorite anecdote from Democrats on the committee: Sidney Blumenthal was suddenly served with a subpoena by two U.S. marshals at his home near the Naval Observatory, instead of being sent a letter asking him to come in for a voluntary interview, a courtesy that has been extended to other witnesses. Blumenthal wasn’t home when the subpoena arrived, so federal agents gave the summons to his wife.
• Very telling detail: During his deposition, Blumenthal was asked more than 200 questions related to the Clintons, significantly more than about Benghazi. A source who was in the room said the first time the word “Benghazi” was uttered in a question to Blumenthal was at 6:30 p.m. The deposition began at 10:30 a.m. 
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