WASHINGTON -- Democrats on the House Benghazi committee said Friday that they are staying -- for now -- on the Republican-led panel, despite calling it a "fishing expedition to derail" Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential bid.
At the same time, they called on House Speaker John Boehner to immediately shut down what they called an "abusive, wasteful and obviously partisan effort."
If Boehner rejects the request, Democrats will continue to participate "in order to make sure the facts are known and the conspiracy theories are debunked," Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland and four other Democrats said in a statement. Cummings is the panel's senior Democrat.
The five Democrats on the committee made the announcement after a meeting with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who had suggested earlier Friday that Democrats could halt their participation on the committee.
Democrats have been pondering whether to remain on the panel, which has spent more than $4.5 million investigating the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans.
Democrats have labeled the probe a partisan effort to undermine Clinton's White House bid and said Thursday's 11-hour hearing with Clinton, who was secretary of state during the attacks, confirmed their views.
Pelosi said Republicans have distorted events in Benghazi to the point where there is a "disconnect with reality that exists on that committee."
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said it was "time to pull the plug on this partisan spectacle." The Benghazi panel "is not just a waste of taxpayer money, it is a waste of precious time in Congress to deal with urgent matters," McCaskill said Friday in a conference call in which she and other Democratic senators urged that the panel be shut down.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called the committee a "political sham" that dishonors the victims.
Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., said he and other Democrats on the Benghazi panel "learned absolutely nothing" during Thursday's contentious hearing or the 17-month investigation that preceded it.
Clinton defended her record during the hearing and said the chaotic events in Benghazi cause her anguish to this day.
"I would imagine I've thought more about what happened than all of you put together," she told the committee. "I've lost more sleep than all of you put together."
The panel's chairman, Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, said the committee was focused on facts, not politics. He sought to deflect recent comments by fellow Republicans describing the investigation as an effort to lower Clinton's poll standings.
Gowdy said important questions remain unanswered, including whether security requests were denied and why the military was not ready to respond quickly on the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
He dismissed as ineffective the work of seven previous investigations, including several led by current and former Republican colleagues. Gowdy called Thursday's session with Clinton "a constructive interaction" but said he did not know whether the panel gained credibility.
Cummings said he thought she "did an outstanding job," and Schumer said the hearing "completely boomeranged on the Republicans."
Jamal Ware, a spokesman for the committee, said two closed-door interviews are scheduled in the next few weeks with individuals he refused to name. Other interviews also are likely, Ware said.
Information for this article was contributed by Bradley Klapper and Deb Riechmann of The Associated Press.
A Section on 10/24/2015