Republicans pursue probe of Benghazi attacks, name witnesses for hearing

Witnesses at a May 8 hearing 'have critical information' about terrorist attack that killed the US ambassador and three other Americans in Benghazi, Libya, last year, says Rep. Darrell Issa.?He says others might testify if they can overcome fear of retaliation by superiors.

By Mark Trumbull,?Staff writer / May 4, 2013

House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., on Capitol Hill in Washington in October 2012. On Saturday, Issa named three witnesses who will appear at a May 8 hearing on the US response to the terrorist threat that cost four Americans their lives in Benghazi, Libya.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

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The chairman of a House investigative committee has named three witnesses who will appear at a May 8 hearing on the US response to the terrorist threat that cost four Americans their lives in Benghazi, Libya.

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Rep. Darrell Issa (R) of California said the hearing promises to highlight discrepancies between Obama administration officials and others with knowledge about US actions before, during, and after the Benghazi attack.

The Obama administration has been seeking to put such scrutiny to rest, and the president has denied that any whistle-blowers are being discouraged from coming forward.

The witnesses at the May 8 hearing will include Mark Thompson, acting deputy assistant secretary for counterterrorism at the State Department; Gregory Hicks, the department?s former deputy chief of mission in Libya; and Eric Nordstrom, a State Department security officer.

?I applaud these individuals for answering our call to testify in front of the Committee,? Mr. Issa said in a statement released Saturday by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. ?They have critical information about what occurred before, during, and after the Benghazi terrorist attacks that differs on key points from what Administration officials ? including those on the Accountability Review Board ? have portrayed.?

Mr. Nordstrom, in a previous hearing in October, has described requesting 12 more security agents in Libya, and being told by a superior that he was "asking for the sun, moon and the stars."

The committee has been contacted by ?numerous other individuals who have direct knowledge of the Benghazi terrorist attack, but are not yet prepared to testify,? often because of concern about retaliation by their employers, Issa said.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/mNLL4xJQIXw/Republicans-pursue-probe-of-Benghazi-attacks-name-witnesses-for-hearing

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