Romney hammers at Benghazi attack

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, campaigning Friday in Ohio and Virginia, hammered at the attack in Libya that killed the U.S. ambassador.

Romney, speaking at a rally in Richmond, Va., said the vice presidential debate Thursday raised new questions about what happened at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

"Yesterday I raised some questions about Benghazi and the tragedy that occurred there, and there are more questions that came out of last night because the vice president directly contradicted the sworn testimony of State Department officials," Romney said. "He's doubling down on denial, and we need to understand exactly what happened. ... American citizens have a right to know just what is going on and we're going to find out."

In the evening, the two candidates appeared together in Lancaster, Ohio, where Ryan raised the issue, ABC News said.

The death of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other State Department employees or contractors has created an opening for the Republicans on foreign policy, the Los Angeles Times reported. President Obama has had a lead on foreign policy during the campaign.

White House spokesman Jay Carney Friday referred reporters' questions about whether the consulate asked for stronger security to the State Department, the Times said. The issue came up at a Republican congressional hearing earlier in the week.

The mother of Sean Smith, one of those killed in the attack, told CNN she just wants to know what happened.

"Nobody wants to know more than the president of the United States," Carney said in response to a question. "So rather than speculate and hypothesize and take political shots on TV, this president has made sure that the FBI is investigating what happened, that the State Department set up the accountability review board to assess what happened in terms of the security posture in Benghazi. And that is under way."