WASHINGTON (AP) — Promises of bipartisanship and cooperation in a congressional investigation have turned into finger pointing and accusations of political grandstanding and power plays eight months later.

A special House committee investigating the deadly 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, began last year with an encouraging tone.

But as the panel holds its third public hearing Tuesday, Democrats complain the panel's Republican chairman has excluded them from crucial steps in the investigation, while Republicans say Democrats are playing politics.

The panel's chairman, South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy, has said he will pursue the facts of the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on a U.S. post in eastern Libya that killed Chris Stevens, the U.S. ambassador, and three other Americans.

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