House Republicans’ chief investigator issued a subpoena Tuesday for State Department documents he said would shed light on how the administration wrote the “talking points” that were used to give a wrong impression of last year’s terrorist attack in Benghazi.
Oversight committee Chairman Darrell Issa told Secretary of State John Kerry to provide all communications regarding the talking points from 10 department officials, ranging from then-chief spokeswoman Victoria Nuland to Deputy Secretary William Burns.
“The State Department has not lived up to the administration’s broad and unambiguous promises of cooperation with Congress,” Mr. Issa said in a letter to Mr. Kerry that accompanied the subpoena.
The White House released some emails two weeks ago that showed Ms. Nuland expressing reservations about some of the information in early versions of the talking points, which were then edited to delete references to al Qaeda. But Mr. Issa said those emails only raise more questions about who else was involved in the editing process.
The final talking points used by Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., five days after the Sept. 11 assault in Benghazi, linked the attack to protests in Cairo, reportedly fueled by anger against an American-made video blasphemously denigrating Islam’s Prophet Mohammed.
The State Department said it “remains committed to working cooperatively with the Congress,” promising to “take stock of any new or outstanding requests for information, and determine the appropriate next steps.”
“All of us — in the administration, in the Congress, in the media — we should all be focused on the issue of protecting the American diplomats and development experts who are working every day to advance America’s national interest and global leadership,” department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said in an email.
Republicans have charged that the administration altered the talking points to try to improve President Obama’s reelection chances by obfuscating al Qaeda links to the attack, which killed four Americans, including U.S. ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens.
“This is an evidence-based follow-up,” committee spokesman Frederick R. Hill Jr. said, referring to the White House release May 15 of 100 pages of email print-outs showing the voluminous interagency correspondence about what to say in the talking points.
The administration counters that the intelligence evaluation was fluid in the days immediately following Benghazi, and that parts of the early draft of the talking points have been proved to have been incorrect, justifying the editing.
Republicans say the emails already released show that officials at Foggy Bottom were trying to shield the State Department — and its leaders, principally then-Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton — from criticism for having ignored warnings about deteriorating security in Benghazi.
In one email among those released Ms. Nuland, a career department official who was serving as spokeswoman, said early edits didn’t go far enough to “resolve all my issues or those of my building leadership.”
SPECIAL COVERAGE: Benghazi Attack Under Microscope
“It is very clear that there were broader discussions [about the talking points] within the State Department that have not yet been divulged,” Mr. Hill said.
In his letter, Mr. Issa says that despite Mr. Kerry’s pledges to be transparent with the Congress, and the appointment of his chief of staff as the point man for document production, the committee’s requests have been “largely ignored.”
The subpoena gives the department until June 7 to comply.
The subpoena is the second Mr. Issa has issued during his investigation, which began more than eight months ago. Earlier this month he issued one to the the veteran career diplomat who led the State Department-chartered investigation into the assault — in which dozens of heavily armed extremists attacked first the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, and then a nearby CIA base known as the annex.
The subpoena to retired Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering was withdrawn last week, after he agreed to appear voluntarily to be interviewed by House investigators behind closed doors.
The ten officials whose communications were subpoenaed on Tuesday are: Mr. Burns, Ms. Nuland, Principle Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Elizabeth Dibble, Acting Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Beth Jones, Under Secretary for Management Patrick Kennedy, Counselor and Chief of Staff to Mrs. Clinton Cheryl Mills, Deputy Secretary for Management Thomas Nides, Deputy Assistant Secretary Philippe Reines, Director of Policy Planning Jake Sullivan and Assistant Secretary for State for Legislative Affairs David Adams.
• Shaun Waterman can be reached at swaterman@washingtontimes.com.
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