Ahead of Hillary Clinton’s much-awaited testimony before the Benghazi Select Committee on Thursday, a conservative outside group is going up with a new ad urging viewers to hold the former secretary of state — “the one person who has answers” — accountable for the attacks in Libya.
Stop Hillary PAC's 30-second spot, which was shared first with BuzzFeed News, uses clips from Clinton’s last testimony on the Benghazi attacks and highlights her response — “I’m still standing” — to a question about the email controversy in last week’s debate.
"Not everyone is still standing," a narrator says as the ad shows the grave of Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya who was killed in the Benghazi attacks.
It follows a similar ad the group aired during CNN’s Democratic presidential debate.
The digital ad is set to run in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, as well as Washington, D.C., and New York City. The initial buy is for $15,000, but the group plans to spend more in the days to come. According to PAC officials, the PAC will spend $10,000 of the buy on video ad targeting through BuzzFeed. The advertising division of BuzzFeed is separate from BuzzFeed's editorial division.
"Hillary asks 'what difference does it make' and casts herself as the victim of the terrorist attack with 'I'm still standing.' The reality is it makes a world of difference, because four men are no longer standing," said Dan Backer, the group's general counsel.
"She still hasn't explained why she shot down Ambassador Stevens' repeated and detailed requests for proper security. She still hasn't explained why she absolved terrorists of fault by claiming the attacks were a popular response to an Internet video, when her internal emails show she knew it was al Qaeda,” Backer said.
Clinton’s campaign and allies have maintained that the Republican-led Benghazi investigation is purely partisan driven.
Stop Hillary PAC had raised nearly $800,000 in the first half of the year, according to reports filed in July with the Federal Election Commission.