The one-year anniversary of the attacks in Benghazi which left four Americans dead will be here September 11th. None of the suspects in the attack have been captured or killed, and Republican lawmakers want to know why.
Eight GOP lawmakers have joined initiator Rep. Jason Chaffetz in asking incoming FBI Director James Comey to brief Congress about the investigation. Sens. John McCain, Kelly Ayotte, Lindsey Graham, and Ron Johnson, as well as Reps. Darrell Issa, Trey Gowdy, and Jim Jordan have signed a letter requesting Comey inform them within 30 days.
Chaffetz told reporters that one of the “pertinent questions today is ‘why we have not captured or killed the terrorist who committed these attacks?’ News out today that CNN was able to go in and talk to one of the suspected terrorists, how come the military hasn’t been able to get after them and capture or kill the people? How come the FBI isn’t doing this and yet CNN is?”
Chaffetz was referring to CNN’s recent interview with Ahmed Abu Khattala, who Libyan and U.S. officials have described as the Benghazi leader of the al Qaeda-affiliated militia group Ansar al-Sharia — one of many groups that filled the vacuum of authority following the overthrow of Moammar Gadhafi.
He has been described as a “person of interest” in the investigation, according to officials.
In that interview, Khattala told CNN’s Arwa Damon that he had not been contacted by any Libyan or American officials.
The lawmakers’ letter to Comey reads, in part: “Rumors continue to swirl about the whereabouts of suspects involved in the attack… The FBI continues to add pictures of potential assailants to its website and asks the Libyan people to assist with identifying the alleged perpetrators. We struggle to understand why we don’t know more about those who attacked two U.S. compounds and murdered four brave Americans. ”
New concerns have been raised that dozens of CIA employees are being “intimidated into silence.”
Both FoxNews and CNN report that “at least five CIA employees were forced to sign additional nondisclosure agreements this past spring in the wake of the Benghazi attack.
“These employees had already signed such agreements before the attack but were made to sign new agreements aimed at discouraging survivors from leaking their stories to the media or anyone else.”
