Adm. Mullen: Hillary Shown Benghazi ARB Report Before It Went Public

At a House Government and Oversight Reform Committee hearing on the Benghazi Accountability Review Board (ARB) on Thursday, Admiral Mike Mullen, who was one of the heads of the ARB, admitted that then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton actually saw a draft of the ARB report before it went public. 

The ARB was investigating Clinton’s State Department in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Clinton convened the ARB to discover whether government officials “breached” their duties in the Benghazi scandal, but the ARB did not even interview Clinton during the investigation.

Mullen made the revelation in response to questioning by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) about whether Cheryl Mills, Clinton’s chief of staff and counsel at the State Department, saw a draft of the report before it went public. 

Jordan then said, “so before December 18 they both got to see it.”

Mullen said he also gave Mills a heads-up that Charlene Lamb, one of the witnesses who was scheduled to come before the Committee in October 2012, would not reflect favorably on the State Department. Lamb, who was reportedly responsible for monitoring what was happening in Benghazi in real time, was one of three State Department officials who ultimately resigned over the Benghazi scandal. 

Jordan questioned Mullen about how “independent” the ARB really was.