By JM Rieger and John Bennett and Matthew Fleming

Former first lady and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton used her opening remarks Thursday before a special House committee to “honor those four men” killed in Benghazi, even as the panel’s chairman, Trey Gowdy, jabbed at her “unusual email arrangement.”In nearly 30 minutes of combined opening remarks, Gowdy wasted little time in bringing up emails the committee uncovered, while Ranking Member Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., blamed the committee’s existence on Clinton’s presidential campaign. “If those previous congressional investigations were really serious and thorough, how did they miss Ambassador Stevens’ emails?” Gowdy, a former prosecutor, said in a measured Southern drawl. “If those previous investigations were serious and thorough, how did they miss Secretary Clinton’s emails?” Read more.