Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said Wednesday he won't rule out asking Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to testify as he begins probing security lapses at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.
The chairman of the powerful House Oversight and Government Reform panel made the remarks on Fox News shortly before the start of the first hearing on the State Department's rejection of requests for more security personnel in Libya. Clinton has not been asked to testify Wednesday, but the hearing could prove to be just the opening salvo of an investigation into her State Department as Republicans seek to paint Obama as a weak leader ahead of the November election.
“If it leads to areas in which she is a ... witness, of course she will” be asked to testify, Issa told "America's Newsroom." “In general we start as we did here with the whistle-blower and then we work up, down and sideways to get to the truth.”
“You never take it off the table. It could go sideways, it could go to the White House, the FBI. There are a lot of people and places that had to fail for this tragedy to occur.”
Issa's comments come as senior State Department officials confirmed last night the attack in Benghazi that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans didn't grow out of a protest against a U.S.-made anti-Islam film posted on YouTube, as the administration initially claimed.
For more on Issa's comments, click here.
