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.
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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.
‘It appears increasingly likely the Department’s primary objective was to create the public appearance of accountability.’
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.
“Did
Secretary Clinton have views on the need to extend the Benghazi
mission, both in the fall of 2011 and summer of 2012? Was she consulted
on these questions and what, if any, influence did her opinion have on
the Department’s decisions?” the report asks.
Issa’s
investigation also found that the ARB was rushed in its investigation,
completing its work in only 10 weeks, undermining claims by Clinton and
President Obama that the ARB conducted a full and complete investigation
into the attacks. Also, the committee identified several conflicts of
interest between the ARB and the people they were investigating. Jones
admitted to the committee that she had close personal and professional
relationships with both Pickering and the executive director of the ARB
staff Uzra Zeya. Pickering also knew Principal Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Liz Dibble, who had a role
in Benghazi security decisions but was not punished after the ARB
report. Dibble was subsequently named Deputy Chief of Mission at the
U.S. Embassy in London.
“For
some, including the Department itself, this report represented the
final word on the internal failures that contributed to the tragedy in
Benghazi. For others, however, the report overvalued certain facts,
overlooked others, and failed to address systemic issues that have long
plagued the State Department,” the report said.
Eric
Nordstrom, the former Regional Security Officer at the U.S. Embassy in
Tripoli, testified to Issa’s committee that top people in Clinton’s
State Department, including Kennedy, were allowed to escape any
accountability for the failures that preceded the Benghazi attack. The
ARB interviewed Kennedy, but not Clinton, Deputy Secretary of State Bill
Burns, or Deputy Secretary of State Tom Nides.
“It’s
an accountability of mid-level officer review board and the message to
my colleagues is that if you are above a certain level, no matter what
your decision is, no one is going to question it. And that is my concern
with the ARB,” Nordstrom testified on May 8.
Issa’s
staff interviewed over two dozen current and former State Department
officials to compile its 100 page report on the ARB. The Daily Beast
viewed an embargoed copy of Issa’s report. The full report will be
released Monday.
The State Department defended its handling of the four mid-level officials punished following the ARB report in a Aug. 29
letter
to Issa. The letter stated that since the ARB had not found any active
breach of duty by the four officials, Kerry was not able to fire them
and was therefore required to bring them back to work in the State
Department.
In
a statement Sunday responding to Issa’s investigation into the ARB,
Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affair Douglas Franz defended
the ARB and disputed Issa’s claim that the State Department has not been
cooperating with the committee. Franz accused Issa of playing politics
with the Benghazi tragedy.
“The response to the tragedy in Benghazi by the Accountability Review
Board and the State Department has been thorough and transparent. In
fact, it set a new standard for transparency measured by tens of
thousands of pages of documents turned over to Congress, testimony in
public and closed hearings and a declassified report for the public,”
said Franz. “Twisting the facts to advance a political agenda does a
disservice to those who lost their lives and those who have devoted the
past year to understanding what happened and implementing security
procedures to make certain it does not happen again. Attacking the ARB
now is an attack on the integrity of one of America’s most respected
diplomats and one of the nation’s most respected military leaders, both
of whom spent their lives serving presidents of both parties.”
Franz also said that the ARB did not shield officials from questioning or blame.
“State Department officials, including former Secretary of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton, have appeared at nine congressional hearings and the
Department has provided thousands of pages of material to members of
Congress and their staffs. Under Secretary of State Patrick F. Kennedy
has represented the Department at more than twenty open and classified
briefings and hearings before Congress to discuss the implementation of
new security procedures worldwide,” Franz said. “The facts show that the
ARB report was prepared by people of unquestioned integrity, that the
process has been transparent and open, and the lessons have been learned
and are being implemented.”
Update:
House Oversight Committee ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings (D-MD) sent
The Daily Beast a statement criticizing Issa’s new report and defending
the ARB.
“This
Republican report is not an official Committee report, but rather a
completely partisan staff report that the Chairman apparently did not
want Committee Members to see before he leaked it to the press. Rather
than focusing on the reforms recommended by the ARB, Republicans have
politicized the investigation by engaging in a systematic effort to
launch unsubstantiated accusations against the Pentagon, the State
Department, the President, and now the ARB itself,” Cummings said.
Pickering and ARB co-chairman ret. Adm. Mike Mullen will testify before the committee Sept. 19, Cummings noted.
“Ambassador
Pickering and Admiral Mullen are respected public servants who dedicated
their lives to this country, and accusations that they engaged in a
‘cover-up’ at Secretary Clinton’s bidding re completely unfounded,” he
said. “I look forward to hearing from them this week at a public
hearing where they can finally address these accusations directly, and I
hope Republicans will finally join us in an effort to ensure the full
implementation of recommendations to improve security for our entire
diplomatic corps serving overseas.”
, but is just one of several colleges eager to land the former first lady.
