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The
Daily Beast
Congress:
Hillary’s Benghazi Investigation Let Top Officials Escape Blame
by
Josh Rogin
Sep
15, 2013
A new
report reveals that the State Department’s Benghazi investigation
failed to hold senior officials accountable for the deaths of four
Americans. Josh Rogin reports…
The
State Department’s investigation into the Sept. 11, 2012 attack on
the U.S. mission in Benghazi was not independent and failed to hold
senior State Department officials accountable for the failures that
led to the death of four Americans, according to a new investigative
report compiled by the House Oversight Committee.
The
Administrative Review Board, chosen by then Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton, unfairly placed the blame for the terrorist attack
on four mid-level officials while ignoring the role of very senior
officials in Clinton’s State Department for decisions about
security in Benghazi, according to the new report led by Chairman
Darrell Issa (R-CA). Also, the structure of the ARB and the culture
in Clinton’s State Department raised questions about the
independence and integrity of the review, according to Issa’s
committee.
“The
ARB blamed systemic failures and leadership and management
deficiencies within two bureaus, but downplayed the importance of
decisions made at senior levels of the Department. Witnesses
questioned how much these decisions influenced the weaknesses that
led to the inadequate security posture in Benghazi,” the report
stated. “The ARB’s decision to cite certain officials as
accountable for what happened in Benghazi appears to have been based
on factors that had little or no connection to the security posture
at U.S. diplomatic facilities in Libya.”
The
Daily Beast first reported in May that the four officials removed
from their jobs and placed on administrative leave as a result of the
State Department’s ARB report on Benghazi had never been told what
they were accused of, never been given any opportunity to appeal
their punishments, and never were officially fired. One of the
officials, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Ray Maxwell,
had little to no role in Libya security policy and was not even
alleged to have been connected to the security failures leading up to
the Benghazi attack.
The
Daily Beast first reported last month that the Kerry State Department
decided to allow those four officials to return to work in the State
Department, although not in their previous jobs. Although former
Undersecretary of State Thomas Pickering, the head of the ARB, said
that responsibility should be placed at the assistant secretary
level, top officials including Assistant Secretary of State for Near
East Affairs Beth Jones were never disciplined.
The
new report by Issa’s committee questions why Under Secretary of
State Patrick Kennedy, who admitted to having a role in overseeing
the decision to reject requests for more security in Benghazi before
the attack, was never blamed or disciplined by the ARB. Moreover,
Kennedy played a key role in selecting the members of the ARB and the
staff that helped the ARB do its works, Issa’s report revealed.
“The
haphazard decision to place the four officials cited by the ARB on
paid administrative leave created the appearance that former
Secretary Hillary Clinton’s decision to announce action against the
individuals named in the ARB report was more of a public relations
strategy than a measured response to a tragedy,” Issa’s report
said. “Therefore, one year after the Benghazi attacks, no one at
the State Department has been fired for their role leading up to the
Benghazi attacks. It appears increasingly likely the Department’s
primary objective was to create the public appearance of
accountability.”
Several
officials told Issa’s committee that Kennedy was deeply involved in
security decisions and would have been directly involved in the
decision not to approve requests for more security in Benghazi before
the attacks.
“The
ultimate decision maker is Under Secretary Kennedy,” testified Eric
Boswell, the Assistant Secretary of Diplomatic Security, who was
punished by the ARB.
“The
way the Under Secretary for Management runs things, there is no
decision that DS makes that doesn’t have his input and his
imprimatur, his approval,” Maxwell testified. “There is no
decision that DS doesn’t make that doesn’t have his disapproval.”
The
report also questions Clinton’s personal awareness and role in the
mistakes that contributed to the attacks…
Read
the rest of the article at The Daily Beast
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