Advertisement

State Department to hand over thousands more Benghazi-related documents

By Amy R. Connolly
Secretary of State John Kerry attends an event releasing the 2015 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. on July 27. The TIP Report assesses government efforts around the world to combat modern slavery. Tuesday, the House committee investigating the 2012 Benghazi attacks agreed to postpone questioning Kerry's chief of staff, Jon Finer, over the department's perceived stalling in handing over Benghazi-related documents. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
Secretary of State John Kerry attends an event releasing the 2015 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. on July 27. The TIP Report assesses government efforts around the world to combat modern slavery. Tuesday, the House committee investigating the 2012 Benghazi attacks agreed to postpone questioning Kerry's chief of staff, Jon Finer, over the department's perceived stalling in handing over Benghazi-related documents. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

WASHINGTON, July 28 (UPI) -- The State Department has pledged Tuesday to turn over 5,000 pages of documents to the House committee investigating the 2012 attacks on Benghazi, Libya that left four Americans dead.

In exchange for the documents, the House Select Committee on Benghazi postponed questioning Secretary of State John Kerry's chief of staff, Jon Finer, on Wednesday over what some think is a continued stalling in handing over Benghazi-related documents.

Advertisement

"This was never about a hearing, but about getting the documents," Benghazi committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., said in a statement. "The committee is not interested in drama, we want the facts."

"If the State Department does not fulfill this production, or if production continues to be anemic and underwhelming, we will move forward with scheduling a compliance hearing before the committee," he added.

The documents are not expected to contain any emails involving former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has been the focus of a House committee investigation over her use of a private email account during her tenure at the State Department. The document dump is the second largest amount the committee has received.

Advertisement

Clinton, the frontrunner for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, announced she will testify Oct. 22 before the committee. She has said she had no direct role in security decisions surrounding U.S. facilities, but Republicans claim her State Department failed to provide protections that might have prevented the attacks.

Latest Headlines