State Department Rejects Graham’s Demand for Benghazi Witnesses

[DonViejo]

by Josh Rogin Oct 28, 2013 4:40 PM EDT

The State Department has no intention of providing Congress more witnesses to the Sept. 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, despite Sen. Lindsey Graham’s threat to hold up all nominations until he gets satisfaction on the issue.

Graham’s Monday morning demand came after a new CBS 60 Minutes expose that featured an interview with a British security contractor who was on the ground and fought on the State Department compound and at the CIA annex during the attacks that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. The contractor, calling himself Morgan Jones, claimed that he had repeatedly warned officials about the vulnerability of the facility.

The expose also featured Stevens’ deputy Greg Hicks, who said he was preparing a third request for more security in Benghazi at the time of the attack, and Lt. Col. Andy Wood, one of the top security officials in Libya at the time, who said he had repeatedly warned the State Department that the Benghazi mission was going to be attacked by Al Qaeda.

“We had one option: ‘Leave Benghazi or you will be killed,’” Wood said.

While Hicks and Wood have testified before Congress, Republican members in both chambers have asked to talk to the actual diplomatic security officers who fended off the initial attacks on the event of Sept. 11, 2012.

full article
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/10/28/state-department-reject-s-graham-s-demand-for-benghazi-witnesses.html