Analysis of GOP strategies and accountability from Benghazi to current political challenges.

 

Earlier this month, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the arrest of Zubayr Al-Bakoush, one of the alleged leaders of the September 11, 2012, terrorist attack on the US Mission in Benghazi, Libya.

Fourteen years after the deaths of Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Glen Doherty, and Tyrone Woods, and serious injuries to mission security personnel David Ubben and Mark Geist, this is accountability far too long in coming, though nonetheless greatly welcome.

In 2014, I was part of a group that pressed for answers to the Benghazi disaster. We dubbed it the “Benghazi Accountability Coalition,” and through a “select” House committee that was established to investigate the attack and in many months following, we pursued that “accountability,” but mainly to little effect against an arrogant Obama administration and a wholly — and typically — unconcerned mainstream press.

This month’s apprehension is a perfect microcosm of the maddening and incessant frustration — not just of conservative activists such as myself — but of the American people. And it’s that elite arrogance and dismissiveness (as has been frequently noted in these intervening years) that led to the 2016 political primal scream that elected Donald Trump.

The egregious leadership failure on the part of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama led directly to the Benghazi debacle. They have yet to answer for it. Or Hillary’s email scandal. Or the IRS targeting of conservative groups. Or the DOJ “Fast and Furious” gun-running scandal. Or the Russia Hoax. Or take your pick of a good half-dozen or more euphemized scandals.

So, forgive me if Pam Bondi and D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro making shop-worn declarations to hunt down the violators rings hollow. Where is the indictment of John Brennan? James Clapper? Peter Strzok? (In the interim, Strzok has even secured a settlement from the government for invading his privacy!) His co-FBI conspirator/adulterous snuggle-bunny Lisa Page? The promised re-indictment of James Comey? Again, the list is seemingly never-ending.

Republicans in Washington are in the typical mid-term panic of a majority party. They’re pinning their hopes on a rebounding economy carrying them in November. A couple little inconvenient reminders – bad economies didn’t torpedo Barack Obama in 2012 or produce the highly-touted anti-Biden mid-term “red wave” in 2022.

People are tired of seeing the “big shots” get away with it. Some commentators noted that it was perhaps not a coincidence that this arrest was announced the same day as Hillary and Bill Clinton made a deal to testify on their Epstein dealings before Congress. Maybe – maybe not. But as we’ve seen in his two terms now, Donald Trump is the embodiment of the little guy’s middle finger to the establishment. If Republicans know what’s good for them, they’d better hold Bill and Hill’s feet to the fire on Epstein, and that testimony had better be broadcast far and wide. And Trump, via Bondi, must get the political hacks in the dock and roll out the subpoenas and indictments, and in sufficient time to see some results – ideally, verdicts. You might call it Republican Lawfare.

A recovering – and ideally – booming economy is the standard political cure-all. But we’re not living in standard times – THAT is certainly an “80 percent poll question,” as is the popular reference today. Trump as middle-finger is no longer available as a choice this November, so for Republicans to become his proxy, voters must see some evidence.

As the president frequently inveighed during his first run, it’s HIGH time for him and the Republicans to “lock them (the Democrats) up!”

That is the REAL Republican turnout machine.

By Tommy Sears  | 7:00 AM on February 14, 2026

Source: From Benghazi to Bondi – the New GOP Turnout Machine – RedState