‘We should debate on fact, not fear’: Clinton testifies on Benghazi

In a high-stakes showdown with congressional Republicans investigating a deadly 2012 attack on a State Department compound in Benghazi, Libya, Hillary Clinton defended her actions as secretary of state and beseeched members of the committee to drop the partisanship that has tarnished the proceedings so far. 

Clinton struck a somber tone in her testimony, paying tribute to the four American victims of the attack, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, but noting that risk was inherent in diplomacy. 

“America must lead in a dangerous world and our diplomats must continue representing us in dangerous places,” she said. “We will never prevent every act of terrorism or achieve perfect security.”

And in a veiled attack at GOP members of the committee, the 2016 White House hopeful called on Congress to “rise above partisanship.” “We should debate on basis of fact, not fear,” she said. 

Reflecting later on the lessons she had learned from the tragedy, Clinton noted, "I have lost more sleep than all of you put together. I have been racking my brain about what could have been done." 

GOP members of the House Select Committee on Benghazi nonetheless aggressively questioned Clinton on why there appeared to be deficient security at the compound and why Stevens' request for additional resources had been repeatedly denied by the State Department. 

Clinton walked a delicate tightrope in her answers, noting that although she was well-apprised of the situation in Benghazi, she had left specific security assessments to outside security experts.  

"I made it abundantly clear that we had to do everything to protect our people," she said, emphasizing that she believed it would have been inappropriate to “substitute my judgement from thousands of miles away for the judgement of security professionals on the ground."

Other lawmakers criticized Clinton for her hand in shaping policy in Libya, emphasizing that her advocacy for U.S. intervention had failed to stabilize the region. 

“Our Libya policy couldn’t have happened without you,” said Rep. Pete Roskam, R-Ill. “After your plan, things in Libya today are a disaster.

The public grilling came after weeks in which the work of the committee itself has been the subject of fierce criticism, painted by Clinton and her allies as a partisan ploy to sink her presidential campaign, instead of a good faith effort to account for mistakes leading up to the attack. 

Chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy. R-S.C. adamantly countered those claims, reiterating that the panel had unearthed critical new information glided over by other congressional investigations, including Clinton's use of a private e-mail server that had theretofore prevented the public record about Benghazi from being complete. 

“Madame Secretary, I understand some people — frankly in both parties — have suggested this investigation is about you. Let me assure you it is not,” he said. “This work is about something much more important than any single person. This investigation is about four people who were killed representing our country on foreign soil. It is about what happened before, during, and after the attacks that killed these four men. It is about what this country owes to those who risk their lives to serve it.  It is about the fundamental obligation of our government to tell the truth, always, to the American people.”

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the ranking member of the committee who has become increasingly critical of his GOP colleagues, meanwhile, repeated charges that Republicans were on a political witch-hunt, noting that other bipartisan investigations centered on Benghazi had cleared Clinton of any criminal wrongdoing.

“What is impossible is for any reasonable person to continue denying that Republicans are squandering millions of taxpayer dollars on this abusive effort to derail Secretary Clinton’s presidential campaign,” he said. 

The perception that the committee’s work, at a cost of $4.5 million, has become overtly political has been fueled in part by comments from Republican lawmakers themselves.

“Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right?” Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., then a candidate for speaker of the House, told Fox News in late September. “What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping. Why? Because she’s untrustable. But no one would have known any of that had happened had we not fought.”

Many Americans don't have an opinion about Clinton's handling of the investigation, according to a new Associated Press-Gfk poll. Four in 10 say they neither approve nor disapprove of how she has answered questions about the attack, while 20 percent approve and 37 percent disapprove.

Americans also are divided on Clinton's emails. More than half of those polled view her use of a private server as a minor problem or no problem at all, compared with 1 in 3 who think it is a major problem. Nearly two-thirds of Republicans call it a major problem.

With Associated Press