Businessman Sandy Pensler is accusing former Rep. Mike Rogers, his opponent in the Republican primary for Michigan’s open Senate seat, of protecting former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the House’s Benghazi investigation.
The Pensler campaign released an ad Monday claiming that Rogers, who investigated the deadly 2012 terrorist attack as then-chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, sided with Clinton after militants stormed the American Consulate and a separate CIA compound.
The committee did not find evidence of the State Department issuing a “stand down” order at the center of the allegations after a two-year investigation into the assault that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and two others.
“In Benghazi, I was injured. I had over 25 holes in me,” former Marine Mark Geist says in the 30-second ad. “My arm was about severed off. We each testified the truth, and Mike Rogers didn’t want to hear the truth. His narrative had already been established. His way of dealing with it was calling us a liar. Mike Rogers went along with Hillary Clinton. I believe Mike Rogers wants Americans to forget what happened in Benghazi.”
The Rogers campaign vehemently denied the ad’s claims, which come roughly one month after a similar Benghazi attack ad from Pensler that accused Rogers of having “helped Hillary cover it up” and still “cover[ing] for her now.”
“If you have to lie to get someone’s vote, you don’t deserve it,” Rogers’s campaign communications director Chris Gustafson told the Washington Examiner. “With cheap ads and wildly out of touch attempts to smear Mike, it’s no wonder Sandy has already been soundly defeated twice before. There’s a reason President Trump endorsed Mike Rogers, he’s the only one talking about real solutions for Michigan families on the issues that actually matter. The truth is Mike’s work allowed the facts about Hillary Clinton’s failures that preceded that tragic day to come to light, which resulted in exposing her secret servers and 30,000 deleted emails.”
The tactic from Pensler comes as Rogers heads into the Aug. 6 primary with a double-digit lead. Rogers is backed by former President Donald Trump and the campaign arm of Senate Republicans. The winner of the primary race, which also includes former GOP-congressman-turned-libertarian Justin Amash, is expected to face Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) in the general election.
Rogers, who is behind but within the margin of error of Slotkin in recent polls, is expected to benefit from a seven-figure infusion from the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the party’s “Michigan field program” if he advances out of the primary. The battleground seat, being vacated by retiring longtime Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), is one of several Democrats must successfully defend if they hope to keep their Senate majority.
The Pensler ads are the beginning of a seven-figure ad buy for broadcast, cable, and digital.
The first ad included audio clips of Rogers from an interview with Michigan Information & Research Service rejecting claims from CIA contractors about the alleged “stand down” order.
“The facts do not align with those stories. It’s very, very easily refutable. People say things. They have no proof of it,” Rogers said. “It’s just all nonsense. It was, I think, people were trying to sell a book at the time. God bless them.”
The ad prompted blowback from Trump Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who endorsed Rogers in the race. Pompeo also served on the Intelligence Committee with Rogers in Congress.
“As someone who served on the Benghazi Select Committee and the Intelligence Committee, I know Mike Rogers did amazing work to bring to light Hillary Clinton’s failures throughout her time as Secretary of State,” Pompeo posted at the time on social media. “Any idea that there was a cover-up is just absurd and false. The truth is that the Benghazi Committee wouldn’t have been successful in uncovering Hillary’s 30k emails, rampant corruption, and her failure to keep Americans safe without Mike Rogers.”
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Although the Select Committee on Benghazi did not find professional wrongdoing, it did criticize the Obama administration’s lack of preparedness. The investigation inadvertently discovered Clinton’s use of a private email server, prompting months of scrutiny by Republicans.
