Sen. Paul: Clinton needs to answer for Libyan terrorist attack

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Friday that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton needs to answer to the charges that she denied a security request for the U.S. Consulate in Libya before the terrorist attack.

On Sept. 11, four Americans were killed in Benghazi, including U.S. ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens. Republicans have criticized the administration for its handling of the terrorist attack, especially since new reports have suggested that Stevens’s request for more security at the consulate was denied by the State Department ahead of the attack.

“If ambassador Stevens signed a security request that was sent to Secretary Clinton, who subsequently denied that request, Secretary Clinton must answer these charges,” Paul said in a statement Friday.

Paul said the administration has denied that Stevens requested additional security. Lawmakers have been demanding more information on the event, including all communications between Stevens and the State Department leading up to the attack.

“Administration officials, including Vice President Joe Biden, have repeatedly told us that more security was never requested in Libya,” Paul said. “If this is false, and security was requested — and was denied — administration officials must answer for this gross intelligence and security failure.”

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) announced that she would hold a hearing on the attack in Benghazi after the election. The House has already started an investigation.

Paul said whoever is responsible for the deaths of the four Americans should be held accountable.

“The failure to protect our diplomats is an outrage and those who made bad decisions should either be fired or have their ability to make such decisions taken away from them,” Paul said. “Someone must answer for the tragedy in Benghazi.

“The President has told us ‘the buck stops here.’ It’s time for him to prove it.”

Last month, Clinton said she'd take responsibility for the lack of security during the attack in order "to avoid some kind of political gotcha" for the administration. The next day, in the second presidential debate, the president said that, “Secretary Clinton has done an extraordinary job but she works for me.”

“I’m the president and I’m always responsible.”

Before the Senate adjourned for the Nov. 6 election, Paul's bill, which would have ended all foreign aid to Libya until "they started acting like our allies," failed to pass.

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