On Wednesday, House Republicans will examine testimonies from several so-called ‘Benghazi whistle-blowers’ during a congressional hearing aimed at shedding light on the infamously shady circumstances surrounding a September 11th, 2012 attack on the American embassy in Libya. Gregory Hicks, deputy US chief of mission in Libya and Number Two man to slain US Ambassador Christopher Stephens, leads a pack of witnesses set to deliver what some have dubbed ‘explosive testimony’ to congressional investigators.
Excerpts from private testimony Hicks gave to the House Oversight and Reform Committee last month were released Monday, drumming up considerable hype ahead of this week’s hearings. In them, Hicks reveals that a team of Special Forces operatives in Tripoli were prepared to fly into Benghazi and had even convinced the Libyan government to allow them to board the rescue flight when they were inexplicably told to stand down by US Special Operations Command South Africa.
The al Qaeda-linked attack claimed the lives of 4 Americans, including Ambassador Stephens, and injured 10 others. A fierce scandal emerged last fall after the federal government attempted to blame the attack on a YouTube video rather than label it a terrorist attack, and widespread speculation over who knew what when continues to develop today. Hicks’ revelations add yet another chink to the Obama administration’s crumbling Benghazi armor- and the most shocking details are still to come.
Contrary to the White House’s claim that it had contacted the US diplomatic team on the ground during the attack, Hicks told investigators he never once heard from administration officials the night his boss was killed. Reports have now surfaced that the State Department suppressed his and others’ testimonies in the wake of the scandal, and some of the whistle-blowers have been ‘scared to death’ to speak the truth until now.
Witnesses will include Mark Thompson, acting deputy assistant secretary for counterterrorism and Eric Nordstrom, the former regional security officer in Libya. All the whistle-blowers have accounts of the Benghazi attack that directly contradict the president’s narrative.
