Johnson Seeks Joint Committee to Probe Clinton
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – More than 24 hours ahead of the closing of polls this evening, U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson signaled the kind of hostile environment Hillary Clinton will be facing if she wins the presidency.
Johnson, R-6 Ohio, issued a statement Monday afternoon calling on Congress to establish a “joint bi-cameral select committee to aggressively and thoroughly investigate” Clinton’s actions while she served as U.S. secretary of state.
“Recent days and months have produced an avalanche of serious accusations, charges, investigations and decisions made within the federal government — by unelected appointees — that the American people haven’t had sufficient visibility into,” he said. “In fact, many of our fellow Americans have come to believe that there are two sets of rules: one for the powerful and well to do, and then one for everyone else. This is not healthy for our republic.”
Johnson’s statement drew a rebuke from the congressman of the neighboring 13th District, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, a Democrat and Clinton surrogate. Ryan lamented that some of his Republican friends were “going to continue down the divisive and counterproductive road of endless investigations.”
He said he hoped and prayed GOP leaders could “love our country more than they hate Hillary Clinton.”
Having served in the military before to his election to the U.S. House of Representatives, Johnson said he is “deeply concerned” with Americans’ “understandably growing distrust” of government officials and institutions, as well as the consequences of such distrust on the nation’s future.
In the military, soldiers place their lives in their commanders’ hands, often with “life or death consequences,” and any problems are thoroughly investigated, with “serious consequences for breaking rules,” he said.
“But in Washington, it’s different. The players may change, but too often money, influence, media coverage and spin obstruct the truth and prevent justice from being served,” Johnson said. “And the truth is there are serious answers that must be found, people that must be held to account, and corrective action taken at several federal agencies, not the least of which is the State Department, and how it was run under Secretary Hillary Clinton.”
Johnson said he would call on congressional leadership to exercise its “constitutionally granted oversight and investigation responsibilities in a significantly more authoritative and disciplined way” and urge leadership to form the joint committee. He said the committee should be established regardless of who wins the presidential election.
Ryan, in response to a request for comment, said that following seven investigations on the 2012 Benghazi attack and a “thorough investigation” by the FBI on her use of a private email server that no charges have been brought.
“It is time to move on and get about the people’s business. We have lots of work to do,” he said.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
