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A decade ago, there were more than a half-dozen Congressional committees investigating the attack upon the U.S. Consular Office in Benghazi, Libya. Yet chances are dimming for even a single Congressional investigation of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol itself on Jan. 6, 2021. But Congress should not be barred from investigating an attempt to overturn the election results by force. Sen. Manchin is right; we need a second vote, free from political pressure.

As of October of 2012, there were more than seven Congressional probes of the Benghazi attack, mostly led by Republicans. This list does not account for non-Congressional investigations of the terror attack.

The Poynter Institute’s Politfact found this of Hillary Clinton’s view of the findings. “As for her comment that there was no overt wrongdoing, just room for improvement, that’s a rosy assessment. But it is also largely accurate.”

But the Benghazi probes had “done their job,” according to Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who had this to say about all of those investigations. He told Sean Hannity on Fox News “Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping. Why? Because she’s untrustable. But no one would’ve known any of that had happened had we not fought and made that happen.” Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-South Carolina) rushed to insist that these hearings unbiased, but the damage by McCarthy was done.

It will be up to the Justice Department to investigate the crimes on Jan. 6, 2021, not necessarily a bipartisan affair.

For the Republican leadership, this isn’t about giving the Democrats an edge, or having their brand look terrible. Folks have already made up their minds that it was either a terrible coup attempt or simply a group of peaceful protesters calmly pleading their case in a nonviolent fashion. It’s about having to repeat, under oath, what they said to President Trump when they pleaded with him to call off the attackers. They’ve seen what’s happened to Rep. Liz Cheney in the caucus, and how every member of Congress who voted to impeach Trump got a host of primary challengers. And they have already faced Trump’s wrath once already, and aren’t itching to make him angry again, especially given that he has a chance to win another term, and exact his revenge upon all who ever stood up to him, or even disagreed with him, or didn’t loudly defend him.