Author Topic: ‘Inside Job’? Leaders of State Department’s Benghazi review grilled by lawmakers  (Read 1219 times)

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Offline happyg

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The leaders of the State Department's internal review of the Benghazi terror attack were grilled Thursday by congressional Republicans who suggested their probe amounted to an "inside job" that let senior officials off the hook. 




The hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee comes days after the committee released a draft report alleging that top State Department officials escaped blame for some of the policy decisions that left the U.S. compound in Benghazi less secure. The leaders of the internal review board -- former Amb. Thomas Pickering and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Gen. Mike Mullen -- were called to testify, and defended the board's objectivity and findings.

"I had no sense anywhere that there was any conflict of interest," Pickering said. "I'm proud of the report."

Four mid-level employees were disciplined in the wake of the report, though most were later re-assigned. More than a year after the Sept. 11, 2012, attack in which four Americans were killed, many Republican lawmakers say there still hasn't been any measurable accountability.  Their scrutiny recently has turned to the work of the Accountability Review Board, led by Mullen and Pickering.

"It looks like ... sort of an inside job of an investigation. The Department of State looking at the Department of State," Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., said.

Pickering later explained that the principle goal of the review was to find out what went wrong so such a tragedy does not happen again.

"This was not, quote, a gotcha investigative panel," he said.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., retorted: "Obviously this was not a gotcha panel. Because nobody was gotcha'd."

The hearing was one of three being held on Benghazi on the House side this week. Democrats complained that Republicans are re-treading over tired talking points, and that the new attempt to pick apart the State Department review is inappropriate.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., top Democrat on the committee, said accusations that the review was a whitewash are "reckless."

"Those kinds of statements upset me, because I think that they are so unfair, and we're better than that," Cummings said. "This Benghazi review was one of the most comprehensive ARB reviews ever conducted."

Though it has been a year since the attack, lawmakers' frustration stems in part from the fact that nobody has been brought to justice in connection with the attack. On top of that, Secretary of State John Kerry recently re-assigned most of those who were disciplined internally over the security posture at the Benghazi post.

In a heated exchange, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, also suggested Mullen was not acting independently when he gave Cheryl Mills, a top aide to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a heads-up that department official Charlene Lamb might not be an ideal witness at a House hearing last fall. Mullen acknowledged that he told Mills he didn't think Lamb would "represent the department well."

Jordan questioned how that intervention squared with his claims that the review board was independent.

Mullen and Pickering claimed it was part of the board's obligation to give status updates to the secretary of State through her staff.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/09/19/inside-job-leaders-state-departments-benghazi-review-grilled-by-lawmakers/#ixzz2fSKDRuxr

Offline Rapunzel

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Gowdy took them to the woodshed... their investigation was nothing but a sham... not an investigation at all.. He even got Mullins to admit he tried to stop Charlene Lambs testimony before congress... when Gowdy was done grilling him over Lamb it was clear Mullins feared she would tell the truth under oath..
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Offline happyg

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Gowdy took them to the woodshed... their investigation was nothing but a sham... not an investigation at all.. He even got Mullins to admit he tried to stop Charlene Lambs testimony before congress... when Gowdy was done grilling him over Lamb it was clear Mullins feared she would tell the truth under oath..

I watched that, and thought they acted like amateurs, who have no clue about Benghazi. Of course, they know all about it, but don't have the guts to intimidate Clinton and Obama.

Offline Rapunzel

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I watched that, and thought they acted like amateurs, who have no clue about Benghazi. Of course, they know all about it, but don't have the guts to intimidate Clinton and Obama.


Something very scary about people like Hillary and O who shut down all investigations and dissenting opinions.
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

rangerrebew

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Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., top Democrat on the committee, said accusations that the review was a whitewash are "reckless."

This racist pig is using derogatory comments to deflect the reality.  Where are people asking him for an apology, using the color of my skin to demean others?  However, if Elijah Cummings was on the committee it was a black mark for the committee. :tongue2:

Online DCPatriot

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For........okay.....OVER a moment, I thought "inside job" meant that they finally concluded that it was a matter of getting rid of witnesses to a sanctioned arms transfer of chemical weapons to Al Qaeda.....for later use in Syria.   

Say...around the 21st of August?  [/s]
"It aint what you don't know that kills you.  It's what you know that aint so!" ...Theodore Sturgeon

"Journalism is about covering the news.  With a pillow.  Until it stops moving."    - David Burge (Iowahawk)

"It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living" F. Scott Fitzgerald