Former Benghazi Investigator Drops Claim of Anti-Clinton Bias

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Air Force Reserve major Brad Podliska, a former investigator for the House Benghazi Committee, is dropping allegations that the committee unfairly targeted Hillary Clinton from his lawsuit against his former employer. In his original suit against the committee, filed in November, the former Republican staff member alleged that he was terminated because he had to leave the committee for military reserve service and because he refused to "go along with the hyper-focus" on Clinton in the committee's investigation into the handling of the Benghazi attacks. Related: Clinton's Emails Give Glimpse Into a Candidate Often Under Pressure While Podliska's lawsuit sought to address alleged employment discrimination, the explosive charge of bias against Clinton fed into partisan battles over House Republicans approach to the issue. That allegation is now gone — his amended complaint removes any reference to Clinton — effectively retiring that argument as a legal matter. The shift was first reported by Politico. Benghazi Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, who exchanged sharp words with Podliska when he first sued, addressed the development on Monday. "Our thorough, fact-centered investigation into Benghazi is not about the former Secretary of State — and our report will not be about her either," Gowdy told MSNBC. According to congressional sources familiar with the Committee's work, there is a view that the shift in the lawsuit is a vindication of their longstanding stance that the committee was not trying to single out Clinton for political purposes. According to a source familiar with Podliska's legal team, plaintiffs can amend a complaint as a matter of course and the shift reflects a legal strategy for the case — not a wider retraction of Podliska's view that Committee staffers were hyper-focused on Clinton. The case has also involved a dispute over whether the committee's members are immune from the suit because of the Constitution's speech and debate clause, which can provide immunity from being sued for actions taken in members' roles as legislators.