The House Armed Services Committee held a closed door hearing Wednesday and took testimony from three men involved in the response to the attack on the Benghazi consulate. General Carter Ham reportedly told lawmakers that he was not consulted about security arrangements prior to 9/11.
The Associated Press has published an account of the testimony based on a summary released by House Republicans. According to the summary, presidential adviser John Brennan did a worldwide review of security in advance of the 9/11 anniversary. However, Gen. Ham “the combatant
commander responsible for one of the most volatile threat environments
in the world, stated that neither he nor anyone working for him was
consulted as part of the Brennan 9/11 planning process.”
The AP also reports that Lt. Col. S.E. Gibson told the committee he was never ordered to stand down as had been previously reported. He says his team was told to await people arriving at Tripoli airport.