Issa Asks Pickering to Commit to Interview About ARB Benghazi Report

Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) sent a letter to former UN Ambassador Thomas Pickering to see if he is still willing to participate in a transcribed interview over his work in the State Department’s Accountability Review Board (ARB) report on Benghazi.

Pickering and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen refused to testify before the Oversight Committee last Wednesday about their ARB report. The report found the State Department at fault for failing to properly secure the American consulate in Benghazi, but neither one interviewed then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during their investigation.

Pickering and Mullen claimed it was not a timing issue that kept them from testifying, but they simply did not want to talk about their work.

Issa and Pickering appeared on NBC’s Meet The Press on Sunday and Pickering agreed to a transcribed interview before a public hearing. On Monday, The Washington Times reported Pickering said he would be happy to explain the ARB report to the Committee.

The Committee set a 5 PM ET deadline for an answer.