Some Republicans worry that with voters focusing on other issues, this inquiry could boomerang.

“There’s not much there or it’s too complicated,” says veteran strategist Ed Rollins. Even South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, a vehement critic of Obama on Benghazi, worries that Republicans will get “burned” if they are seen as playing partisan politics.

A superb analysis by Washington journalist Michael Hirsh, for Politico magazine, details the flimsiness of the most serious Benghazi charges. There’s “little evidence that Clinton or anyone else in the Administration engaged in a cover-up.” The Republican goal, he writes, is to make the attacks on Hillary Clinton a refresher on what she would face in 2016, making her more reluctant to run.

Rehashing or embellishing the Benghazi tragedy by beating up on Clinton might affect her and voter enthusiasm this fall. Rather than aiding Republicans, however, it may bolster her resolve and standing with voters and energize Democrats’ interest in the fall campaigns. Remember 1998.