WASHINGTON

House panel’s report backs administration on Benghazi

A two-year investigation by the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House intelligence panel rejects allegations that the Obama administration intentionally misled the public about the deadly attacks on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya.

Repudiating what it called “the swirl of rumors and unsupported allegations” over the Benghazi assault, lawmakers on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence said in a report released Friday that there was never a “stand-down” order blocking rescue efforts and that White House officials weren’t to blame for an inaccurate initial account of the events on Sept. 11, 2012.

The committee’s report doesn’t name former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a prospective Democratic presidential candidate in 2016. Even so, an appendix written by Republican members urged further investigation of previous assertions that she and other State Department officials failed to “approve repeated requests for additional security” in Libya.

The attacks on a U.S. diplomatic post and a CIA annex killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and became a flash point in President Obama’s re-election campaign.

– From news service reports


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