Thursday, November 15, 2012

FOXNews.com: LIBYA ATTACK: Can Lawmakers Get to Bottom of Benghazi?

FOXNews.com
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LIBYA ATTACK: Can Lawmakers Get to Bottom of Benghazi?
Nov 15th 2012, 14:35

More than two months after the deadly Libya terror attack, lawmakers are entering a round of hearings in hopes of getting some answers. 

The House and Senate intelligence committees are both holding closed oversight hearings Thursday where a roster of top-ranking intelligence and other officials are set to testify. These include Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and CIA Acting Director Michael Morell, who was tapped to replace David Petraeus after he resigned last Friday. 

Petraeus, though, has agreed to speak to the intelligence committees about Libya, with the first scheduled appearance set for early Friday morning before the House panel. That, too, will be closed to the public. 

While the round of closed hearings is a start, other lawmakers are calling for a more robust inquiry into what happened before, during and after the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi which left four Americans dead. The House Foreign Affairs Committee is holding an open hearing Thursday morning, but it mostly features analysts not involved in the Benghazi attack response. 

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and two other Republican colleagues on Wednesday called for the creation of a "select committee" to investigate Benghazi. 

"Let me be clear: There is no credibility among most of us concerning the administration and the numerous controversies and contradictions that have been involved in their handling of this issue," McCain said, at a lengthy news conference on Capitol Hill. 

McCain was joined by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., in calling for a temporary Senate committee established specifically to investigate Libya. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid later said he would not support their proposal. 

Though the administration has urged lawmakers to wait until an internal review is completed, lawmakers have raised a litany of questions about the attack -- concerning why repeated requests for more security were denied, whether the military did enough to respond to the scene during the attack itself and why the administration first insisted the attack was a "spontaneous" act. 

The latest dispute centers on U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice, who repeatedly said the attack was spontaneous on five Sunday shows after the attack despite other officials preparing to call it terrorism. Obama, in his first post-election press conference Wednesday, called the criticism "outrageous" and told those lawmakers to "go after me." 

Graham responded: "Mr President, don't think for one minute I don't hold you ultimately responsible for Benghazi. I think you failed as commander in chief before, during and after the attack." 

Though Petraeus is embroiled in a scandal over an extramarital affair -- which led to his resignation -- he is not expected to address that when he speaks to lawmakers Friday. Rather, he will stick to Libya. 

Lawmakers want to know, among other things, about a trip Petraeus took to Libya the week of Oct. 31. They are curious about a report that was put together summarizing his meetings and which may include details of his personal interviews with the CIA station chief in Benghazi about the attack. A State Department consulate, as well as a CIA annex, came under heavy fire that night. 

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