WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- The head of the investigation into the Benghazi, Libya, consulate attack said he left the decision on firing anyone up to the U.S. State Department.
Former Ambassador Thomas Pickering told The Hill the report into the deadly 2012 raid by al-Qaida recommended that two State Department employees be either let go or reassigned.
"Our report recommended two people should leave their jobs, nothing more, nothing less," said Pickering, the chairman of the Accountability Review Board. Pickering added the panel did not have the authority to fire anyone and left it up to the State Department to decide if that meant sacking the pair or moving them to a different job.
"We left open their staying on in the department," Pickering said.
It was not clear which staffers were recommended for termination or reassignment by the ARB. The Hill said four officials were singled out for reprimand in the report and have since been reassigned.
"What we've done over these past few months is go back and look at all the facts and also take into account the totality of these four employees' overall careers at the State Department," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told The Hill last month. "What we found in that review is that ... they have served honorably, often in very tough places. And that was all taken into account."
The job status of the various officials will likely be a hot topic of discussion at next week's hearing on the politically charged Benghazi issue before the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
