Graham, McCain Call for Senate Select Committee on Benghazi after Intimidation Reports

On Tuesday, Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and John McCain (R-AZ) called for a Senate select committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the Benghazi terrorist attack of September 11, 2012 that resulted in the death of four Americans including Libyan Ambassador Chris Stevens. Their press release criticized the administration for alleged intimidation of witnesses from the incident: “Revelations about witnesses being afraid to testify and military assets that could have been deployed in a timely fashion justify appointing a joint select committee. In light of these new revelations it is imperative that we learn everything we can from what happened before, during and after the attacks. We cannot allow those who serve our nation to feel abandoned when under attack, or by Congress afterwards.”

In his press conference today, President Obama said he was “not familiar” with reports of intimidation and threats to such witnesses. According to a lawyer for a State Department employee, “her client and some of the others, who consider themselves whistle-blowers, have been threatened by unnamed Obama administration officials …. I’m not talking generally, I’m talking specifically about Benghazi – that people have been threatened. And not just the State Department. People have been threatened at the CIA.”