State Dept. hands over 1,100 pages of Benghazi records to Rep. Trey Gowdy's panel

The U.S. State Department on Friday handed over more than 1,100 pages of records to the committee investigating the deaths of U.S. citizens in Benghazi, Libya on Sept. 11, 2012, the chairman of the House of Representatives panel said.

The records included files from senior employees during the time Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was secretary of state, according to a statement by Select Committee on Benghazi Chairman Trey Gowdy.

"It is deplorable that it took over a year for these records to be produced to our committee, and that our Democrat colleagues never lifted a finger to help us get them," Gowdy, a Republican, said in the statement.

Democrats have complained since the investigation began that the panel is a partisan project bent on hurting Clinton's candidacy.

(Reporting by Eric Walsh; Editing by Chris Reese and Diane Craft)