After Fox News' consistent calls for a special select committee to investigate Benghazi, House Speaker John Boehner announced plans to create a new select committee to investigate the September 11, 2012, attacks.
On May 2, Boehner announced that he intends to call for a vote in the House “to establish a new select committee to investigate the attack, provide the necessary accountability, and ensure justice is finally served”:
Americans learned this week that the Obama Administration is so intent on obstructing the truth about Benghazi that it is even willing to defy subpoenas issued by the standing committees of the People's House. These revelations compel the House to take every possible action to ensure the American people have the truth about the terrorist attack on our consulate that killed four of our countrymen. In light of these new developments, the House will vote to establish a new select committee to investigate the attack, provide the necessary accountability, and ensure justice is finally served.
The administration's withholding of documents - emails showing greater White House involvement in misleading the American people - is a flagrant violation of trust and undermines the basic principles of oversight upon which our system of government is built. And it forces us to ask the question, what else about Benghazi is the Obama administration still hiding from the American people
Boehner's announcement came after the second day of Fox's misguided attempt to turn an email by Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes into the new “smoking gun” that proved the Obama administration covered up the truth about the attacks in Benghazi. Fox figures used the manufactured scandal to call for a select committee to investigate the attacks over the course of two days following the memo's release.
While Boehner's announcement is a new development, it is common practice for Fox to call for a select committee. In fact, the network has led the charge for just such an investigation, usually relying on false attacks to bolster their claim. Fox contributor Allen West called for a select committee after falsely claiming that the White House issued a “stand down” order to troops who were preparing a rescue mission. Fox contributor K.T. MacFarland also called for a select committee to investigate after the bipartisan Senate Review found that the White House had not engaged in any cover up of the truth about the attacks.