• Suspect arrested in connection with Benghazi attack

    By Pete Williams, Chief Justice Correspondent, NBC News

    A Libyan man has been detained in Libya for questioning in connection with last September's attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi which left four Americans dead, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, a federal official confirmed on Thursday.

    The official said that while the United States is interested to find out what Faraj al-Shibli (also spelled Chalabi), 46, knows about the attack, it is not clear that he played a central role, or that his capture represents a major breakthrough in the case.

    According to Interpol's web site, al-Shibli is wanted by the Libyan authorities for "crimes involving the use of weapons/explosives."

    Dozens of heavily armed men stormed the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya’s second largest city, on the night of Sept. 11, 2012. Ambassador Stevens, Information officer Sean Smith and two security personnel — Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods — were killed in the attack and another 10 people were injured. The apparent vulnerability of the U.S. personnel sparked a sharp debate and investigation of gaps in security.

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    Obama and Hillary should be arrested as well.

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  • In wake of Benghazi, rapid response Marine unit heading to Europe

    Win Mcnamee / Getty Images

    A V-22 Osprey lands at the Pentagon following a meeting between U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Japanese Minister of Defense Satoshi Morimoto August 3, 2012 in Arlington, Virginia.

    By Jim Miklaszewsk, Courtney Kube, and Andrew Rafferty, NBC News

    Highlighting the continuing fallout from the Sept. 11, 2012 attack on an American consulate in Libya that took the lives of four Americans, defense officials told NBC News on Wednesday that the U.S. Marine Corps is on the verge of announcing a new group tasked with crisis response in north Africa and eastern Europe.

    The group, which will be known as the Marine Air-Ground Task Force, will likely be based at Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily, Italy.  The team will be capable of rapid deployment for responding to security threats throughout the region — including a U.S. embassy under attack.

    Orders for the new Marine unit will likely go to the secretary of defense for approval late next week. The task force will have around 1,000 Marines and a variety of aircraft, including a half-dozen Ospreys — a airplane that can take off vertically like a helicopter but once airborne is capable of high-speed flight.

    If approved, the land-based task force will deploy from Camp Lejeune in North Carolina early this spring.

    The announcement of the new Marine group comes just weeks after Republicans in Congress hounded former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over why the diplomatic mission in Libya was not better protected the night of the deadly attack that took the life of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

    Hours before the attack, Stevens sent a cable to the State Department warning of deteriorating security conditions. Yet, during hearings on Capitol Hill, Clinton said the warning never came to her attention because the State Department receives more than one million cables each year.

    Former Sen. Chuck Hagel could be the one to approve the Marine Air-Ground Task Force — if he is confirmed as Defense Secretary when Congress returns from recess. Senate Republicans blocked a vote to approve his nomination last week. 

  • Libyans put aside woes to celebrate uneasy anniversary

    Mahmud Turkia / AFP - Getty Images

    Thousands of Libyans celebrate the second anniversary of the Libyan uprising at Martyrs' Square in Tripoli on Feb. 17, 2013.

    Reuters reports — Thousands took to the streets on Sunday to celebrate two years since the start of Libya's revolution and a national political leader promised to end the sense of neglect experienced by Benghazi, the country's second city.

    Mohammad Hannon / AP

    Libyans release lanterns into the air at Nasr Square during the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in Benghazi on Feb 17.

    One thousand kilometers east of the capital Tripoli, Benghazi was the cradle of the revolt that ousted dictator Moammar Gadhafi, but many citizens feel that they are yet to see the fruits of their military struggle.

    "I'm not here to celebrate; a revolution should be celebrated once its goals are fulfilled. In Benghazi we keep bringing up demands and nothing happens," Mohammed al-Shokri, 26, said. Read the full story.

    Slideshow: Conflict in Libya

    Goran Tomasevic / REUTERS

    An uprising in Libya ousts dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

    Launch slideshow

    This story was originally published on Sun Feb 17, 2013 7:51 PM EST

  • 4 arrested in Libya for trying to spread Christianity

    By Reuters

    Four foreigners have been arrested in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on suspicion of being Christian missionaries and printing books about Christianity, a security official said on Saturday.

    "They were arrested on Tuesday at a publishing house where they were printing thousands of books that called for conversion to Christianity," security official Hussein Bin Hmeid said.

    "Proselytizing is forbidden in Libya. We are a 100 percent Muslim country and this kind of action affects our national security."


    Hmeid said the government-affiliated security apparatus called the Preventative Security, for which he is a spokesman, had arrested an Egyptian, a South African, a Korean and a Swede who was travelling on a U.S. passport.

    "We are still holding interrogations and will hand them over to the Libyan intelligence authorities in a couple of days," Hmeid said, without giving further details.

    The Preventative Security apparatus is a parallel security body created during the 2011 war that ousted leader Moammar Gadhafi and made up of several rebel brigades that fought in the conflict.

    Libya's central government has yet to impose its authority on a myriad of armed groups that have yet to lay down their arms, and with skeletal national security forces, often relies on them for security.

    Reporting by Hadeel Al-Shalchi; Editing by Alison Williams

    Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

  • Clinton takes responsibility in Benghazi attack, clashes with Republicans

    By Tom Curry, National Affairs Writer, NBC News

    Updated at 2:20p.m. ET: In a hearing marked by sometimes sharp and pointed exchanges, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee she took responsibility for not adequately protecting U.S. personnel in the Sept. 11 attack on a diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya that resulted in the killing of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. 

    While being grilled by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., a fired-up Hillary Clinton defends her department's handling of the flow of information concerning the cause of the deadly attack on the US consulate in Benghazi on Sept. 11th, 2012, maintaining accusations of misleading Americans could not "be further from the truth."

    Defending the administration’s immediate handling of the attack, Clinton clashed at times with Republicans over the account the administration gave in the initial days after Sept. 11.

    Clinton said the Obama administration did not try to mislead the American people about the cause of the attacks. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” she said as she sparred with Sen. Ron Johnson, R- Wisc.

    She angrily told Johnson that at this stage it did not really matter what the precise origins or motives of the attack were: “What difference at this point does it make?”

    She told Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, a Republican, “we did not have a clear picture” of all that was going on in Benghazi although she did acknowledge that senators had “legitimate questions” about the administration’s account.

    Sen. John McCain, R- Ariz., -- after telling Clinton “we are proud of you” and that all over the world “you are viewed with admiration and respect” -- delivered a blistering criticism of the Obama administration’s handling of the events in Libya.

    “There are many questions that are unanswered and the answers you’ve given this morning are frankly not satisfactory to me,” McCain told Clinton. He added “the American people and the families of these four brave Americans still haven’t gotten the answers they deserve.”

    He asked Clinton whether she was aware of numerous warnings from Stevens and other Americans in Libya that the facility in Benghazi was not capable of resisting a sustained assault. He also said there had been other warning signs such as an attack on the British ambassador to Libya.

    He angrily asked Clinton why Defense Department forces were not nearby to defend the Benghazi facility.

    Last month a report issued by the Accountability Review Board (ARB) appointed by Clinton, blamed State Department officials for “systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies” that led to protection for the Benghazi facility that was “grossly inadequate to deal with the attack that took place.”

    In her response to McCain, Clinton said, as she did to other senators on the panel, that some additional information on the causes and circumstances of the attack is in the classified portions of the report issued by the ARB. Senators and Senate staff can read the classified portions of the ARB report, but the public cannot.

    Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., grills Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the administration's handling of the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi and the events that followed.

    And she blamed members of Congress for holding up additional aid to Libya that might make the country more secure and less chaotic. 

    Clinton was testifying Wednesday afternoon on Benghazi before the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

    In his questioning of Clinton Wednesday morning, Sen. Rand Paul, R- Ky., told her, “I’m glad that you’re accepting responsibility. I think that ultimately with your leaving, you accept the culpability for the worst tragedy since 9/11, and I really mean that. Had I been president at the time and I found that you did not read the cables from Benghazi, you did not read the cables from Ambassador Stevens, I would have relieved you of your post.”

    He added, “It’s a failure of leadership” which cost the Americans in Benghazi their lives. “I think it’s good that you’re accepting responsibility-- because no one else is.”

    Paul also argued that U.S. personnel ought to never have been sent to Benghazi “in a war zone” without a military guard. “You shouldn’t send them in with the same kind of embassy staff that you have in Paris,” he added. 

    While testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about the murders of U.S. diplomatic personnel in Benghazi, Libya, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton got emotional as she recalled the flag-draped coffins at Andrews Air force Base in the days following the attack, stating her work is "not just a matter of policy; it's personal."

    Clinton replied that all four State Department officials criticized in the ARB report for their roles on the Benghazi events had been removed from their jobs and placed on administrative leave. “The ARB (report) made very clear that the level of responsibility for the failures that they outlined was set at the assistant secretary level and below.”

    The furor over the Benghazi attack helped derail one possible nominee to replace Clinton at the State Department, UN ambassador Susan Rice, whom Republicans assailed for using administration talking points that portrayed the incident as a spontaneous response to an inflammatory anti-Islamic video.

    But Clinton told the committee that in the hours and days after the attack, “I was not focused on talking points” and “I wasn’t involved in the talking points process.”

    Recommended: Biden not shying away from 2016 speculation

    In her opening statement, Clinton told the committee, “As I have said many times since September 11, I take responsibility.  Nobody is more committed to getting this right.  I am determined to leave the State Department and our country safer, stronger, and more secure.”

    Clinton's voice choked with emotion as she recalled the return of “those flag-draped caskets” from the Americans killed in Benghazi and put her arms “around the mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters” of those killed. 

    Clinton also used her testimony to deliver a vigorous call for continued U.S. involvement in the North African nation of Mali where the Obama administration is aiding French efforts to defeat Islamic jihadist forces.

    She told the committee that the United States cannot allow Mali to become a safe haven for the group Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), warning of the risk of AQIM attacks on the United States itself.

    Clinton also said she could not confirm reports that some of the terrorists involved in last week’s Algeria hostage taking were also involved in the Benghazi attack but called it a "new thread" to follow.

    She did say that there is no doubt that Algerian terrorists have weapons they obtained from depots in Libya that were opened up and “liberated” after the dictator Moammar Gadhafi was toppled, with U.S. and NATO help, in 2011.

     

    Gary Cameron / Reuters, file

    Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks about the hostage situation in Algeria during a joint news conference with Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida (not pictured) after their meeting at the State Department in Washington Jan. 18, 2013.

    Clinton said she had accepted the ARBs recommendations for improvements in security procedures and had asked her subordinates “to ensure that all 29 of them are implemented quickly and completely.” She said these changes are designed to “reduce the chances of another Benghazi happening again.”

    On Thursday the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold its confirmation hearing for Clinton’s successor, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, who is the committee’s chairman and is likely to be confirmed without any opposition.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Libyan Islamist leader probed in Benghazi attack averts assassination attempt

    By Reuters
    BENGHAZI, Libya — Assailants tried to kill a prominent Libyan Islamist leader by planting a bomb under his car in an apparent revenge attack dating back to the uprising that ousted veteran leader Moammar Gadhafi, police said on Monday.

    One of the suspects was killed during the assassination attempt late on Sunday on Ahmed Abu Khattala, who is being investigated by the United States after the attack on its consulate in Benghazi in which its ambassador was killed.


    "I was in the house when the bomb went off. Two men tried to put a home made bomb under my car which was parked outside the house but it exploded first. One man ran away, the other died," Abu Khattala told Reuters by telephone.

    Lieutenant Colonel Younes Ahmed of the Benghazi police department confirmed two people tried to plant a bomb under Abu Khattala's car, and that one man died in the explosion.

    Police said the motive likely dated back to the splintered loyalties of the conflict that overthrew Gadhafi in 2011 after 42 years in power.

    Tribal and historical loyalties still run deep in Libya, which is struggling to maintain central government control in a country where armed militia wield real power and meaningful systems of law and justice are lacking after the crumbling of Gadhafi's eccentric personal rule.

    Ahmed said the suspects were relatives of a military fighter, Lieutenant Ahmed Nasser Madhkour, who was killed at the same time as rebel military chief Abdelfattah Younes, a former Gaddafi loyalist who had defected to the rebels.

    "It seems the men who attempted the assassination were trying to avenge the death of their relative. They still blame Abu Khattala for the killing," Ahmed said

    Abu Khattala's war-time militia, the Obeidah al-Jarrah brigade, was blamed in the killing in July 2011 of Younes.

    Younes was involved in the 1969 coup that brought Gaddafi to power. He was interior minister before he defected and took a senior position in the rebellion in February 2011.

    Some rebels, especially hard-line conservative Islamist fighters who were persecuted under Gadhafi, were never happy to serve under a man who had been so close to Gadhafi.

    Abu Khattala was questioned by Libyan authorities but released because no evidence directly linked him to the killing. He said he later broke up his militia group.

    U.S. government sources have said that Abu Khattala is being investigated as a suspect in the consulate attack in September last year that led to the death of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

    U.S. investigators are not clear if he played a role in leading or organizing the attacks, but in an interview with Reuters in October, Abu Khattala said he was present at the consulate during the attack but was not its ringleader.

    In December he said he had still not been called in for questioning by the Americans or Libyan authorities.

    Egyptian authorities have reportedly arrested a man suspected of being part of the deadly terror attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports.

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  • Key State Department official resigns in wake of Benghazi report

    By Catherine Chomiak, NBC News

    The assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Diplomatic Security has resigned and three other officials have been relieved of duty after a report criticized the State Department over the attacks on U.S. diplomats in Benghazi, Libya, the department said late Wednesday.

    State Department spokesperson Victoria J. Nuland confirmed that Eric Boswell had resigned and said three other officials had been relieved of duties pending . Two of the others worked in the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and one in the Bureau of Near East Affairs.

    Nuland did not name the other three, but a U.S. official told NBC News that one was Charlene Lamb, Boswell’s deputy assistant secretary of state for international programs. Earlier reports had said that Boswell, Lamb and another unidentified official had resigned.

    The resignations come after the release of the Accountability Review Board Report on the attacks on the U.S. Mission in Benghazi, Libya, which faulted the State Department and specifically the Bureau of Diplomatic Security for "grossly inadequate" security.

    Here’s Nuland’s full statement:

    "The ARB identified the performance of four officials, three in the Bureau of the Diplomatic Security and one in the Bureau of Near East Asia Affairs.  The Secretary has accepted Eric Boswell's decision to resign as Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security, effective immediately.   The other three individuals have been relieved of their current duties.  All four individuals have been placed on administrative leave pending further action."

     

  • Benghazi report blames 'systemic failures' within State Department

    An independent panel's report on the Benghazi consulate attacks cites management failures at senior levels in Washington that resulted in "grossly inadequate" security. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

    By Andrea Mitchell and Isolde Raftery, NBC News

    Updated at 10:50 p.m. ET: An independent panel's sharply critical report on the Sept. 11 attacks on the Benghazi consulate blames "systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies within two bureaus of the State Department" for the post's inability to defend itself. 


    The report details the events that unfolded on Sept. 11 in Benghazi, Libya, when the Special Mission post was overrun by militants who used rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and machine-gun fire, according to the 39-page report. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed.

    The report's findings fall largely into two categories: staffing and the physical security of the Benghazi post. Staff was, according to the report, talented but relatively inexperienced. Personnel there spent about 40 days on assignment, resulting in "diminished institutional knowledge." 

    In a statement Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she accepts the report's recommendations. The independent review board was formed at her request and was chaired by former Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen and former Ambassador Tom Pickering. 

    In addition to staffing issues, the report says that Ambassador Stevens "made the decision to travel to Benghazi independently of Washington, per standard practice." 

    The independent report commissioned by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton investigating the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi faulted the State Department for "systematic failures" and "grossly inadequate" security to deal with the attack. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

    Further, the report says, Embassy's country team was not fully aware of Stevens' movements off the compound.

    Stevens' "status as the leading U.S. government advocate on Libya policy, and his expertise on Benghazi in particular, caused Washington to give unusual deference to his judgments." 

    Stevens arrived in Benghazi on a Greek cargo ship on April 5, 2011, according to the report. American embassy personnel had been evacuated months before, in February. At the time, Stevens was a special envoy to the Libyan Transitional National Council.

    Stevens was the report says, "extremely effective" and admired by Libyans. He "personified the U.S. government commitment to a free and democratic Libya."  

    Against a backdrop of mounting political violence, Benghazi became less secure, the report points out in the form of a timeline. The timeline begins with an armed robbery that took place at the British School on March 18 and ends with a small bomb thrown at an Egyptian diplomat's car on Aug. 20. 

    Stevens arrived in Benghazi on Sept. 10, accompanied by two temporary duty officers. Security staffing at the post on the day of the attack was inadequate and did not meet security standards, according to the report. 

    The report states strongly that Congress must meet budgetary challenges to "provide necessary resources to the State Department." Specifically, Congress should restore a security program to $2.2 billion by 2012.

    Managers, the report says, have become conditioned to tightening the purse strings. 

    That said, the report continues, the Embassy in Tripoli did not advocate enough for increased security at the Benghazi post. Some security upgrades had been made, although they were not sufficient, including safety grills on windows, concrete jersey barriers and some locally-manufactured steel doors. 

    As a result, the report says on its first page, "systemic failures and management deficiencies" rendered the Special Mission post in Benghazi "grossly inadequate to deal with the attack."  

    And although it found that "certain senior State Department officials within two bureaus demonstrated a lack of proactive leadership" when Benghazi asked for more protection, the report said that no employees breached their duty.

    The report, although critical, addresses the difficulties faced. Terrorist and hostile actors posing threats to American security are "growing" and "diffuse," it says. Resorting to a "total fortress and stay-at-home approach to U.S. diplomacy" would be unacceptable. 

    Recommendations
    The report recommends that the U.S. should strengthen security in high-risk posts beyond what is provided by host governments and lean on outside experts to regularly assess security at the posts. The State Department should also reorganize its Bureau of Diplomatic Security and appoint an official charged with overseeing high threat posts. 

    The State Department should also boost Marine security and hire more diplomatic security personnel at high-risk posts, the report said. 

    The State Department should also improve language abilities, particularly Arabic, among employees, the report says.  

    Testifying
    Mullen and Pickering are scheduled to brief congressional committees on the classified version of the report on Wednesday. Hearings on the report are scheduled in the Senate and the House on Thursday. 

    Clinton was supposed to testify in hearings on the report on Thursday but she remains at home recovering from a bout with the flu that resulted in her fainting and suffering a concussion. 

    Her two deputies, William Burns and Thomas Nides, will testify in her place. 

    Debate over the attacks polarized Republican and Democratic lawmakers, as Republicans questioned whether the consulate had adequate security and whether the State Department had responded to requests for more protection. 

    At the same time, U.S. spy agencies produced conflicting reports on who was behind them, U.S. officials have said. Most said extremists with possible al-Qaida ties were involved. But a few reports, which the Obama administration emphasized in early public statements, said the attacks could have been spontaneous protests against an anti-Muslim video made in the U.S.

    United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice faced intense criticism from Republican lawmakers when she made comments indicating that the attacks were a spontaneous response to a low-budget movie made in the U.S. that maligned the Islamic Prophet Mohammed. She later said she had not meant to be misleading but was relaying intelligence that she had been provided. 

    Rice dropped out of the running for secretary of state, citing the "very politicized confirmation process."

    NBC's Catherine Chomiak and Reuters contributed reporting.

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  • Egypt arrests suspect in US ambassador's killing

    Egyptian authorities have reportedly arrested a man suspected of being part of the deadly terror attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports.

    By Ayman Mohyeldin and Charlene Gubash, NBC News

    A man accused of involvement in the attack that killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans in Libya has been arrested in Egypt, two intelligence sources in Cairo told NBC News on Saturday.


    Mohammed Abu Jamal Ahmed, allegedly a member of a militant group, was detained in Cairo where he lives, the sources said.

    In addition to the allegations that he was involved in the attack in Benghazi, he is also accused of transporting weapons from Libya to Egypt, the sources added.

    Ahmed, in his late 30s, was in prison prior to the uprising that deposed former President Hosni Mubarak, but escaped in one of several prison breaks in the aftermath of the revolution, one of the sources said.

    Ahmed has been known to Egyptian intelligence officials for several years and had "active relations" with radical militant groups involved in Iraq and Afghanistan, the source said.

    The attack on the Libyan consulate, as it happened

    Intelligence officials believe he was involved in trading arms in Egypt, many of which came from Libya.

    Ahmed was being interrogated for a possible connection with the Benghazi attack because of his arms-trading connections with extremist groups both in Libya and Egypt, the source added.

    Libya arrests four suspected in deadly US Consulate attack in Benghazi

    The second source said Ahmed had fought in Libya during the uprising against ousted President Moammar Gadhafi.

    But it’s not yet clear what exact role, if any, he may have played in the Benghazi attack.

    Timeline: Political fallout from the attack on diplomats in Libya

    He has not been charged in Egypt’s State Security Court, the judicial body that handles security cases.

    There were conflicting reports as to when Ahmed was arrested with one source saying Friday and another saying he was detained a "few weeks ago.”

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  • Susan Rice: 'I relied solely and squarely' on intel given to me for Benghazi comments

    UN Ambassador Susan Rice defended comments she made after the September 11th attacks on the US consulate in Benghazi, which have drawn continuing criticism from Republicans.

    By NBC News staff and wire services

    UNITED NATIONS – U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice on Wednesday defended her remarks on a September attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to the North African nation.


    Republicans have criticized Rice, seen as a possible nominee to replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, for appearing on several TV talk shows five days after the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi and saying that preliminary information suggested the assault was the result of protests over an anti-Muslim film, rather than a premeditated strike.

    “I relied solely and squarely on the information provided to me by the intelligence community. I made clear that the information was preliminary and that our investigations would give us the definitive answers," Rice told reporters at the United Nations in her first comments on the controversy.

    The U.S. ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three other Americans were killed in the attack, which has raised questions about security of diplomatic missions, U.S. intelligence about the threat, and the adequacy of the immediate response.

    "Everyone, particularly the intelligence community, has worked in good faith, to provide the best assessment based on the information available," Rice said. "None of us will rest ... until we have the answer and the terrorists responsible for this attack will be brought to the justice."

    Senate Republicans John McCain and Lindsey Graham vowed last week to oppose any attempt by President Barack Obama to elevate Rice to a Cabinet position that would require Senate confirmation.

    Rice said that while she had "great respect" for McCain, some statements that he made about her "are unfounded" and that she looked forward to have an opportunity to discuss the issue with him.

    The White House has also said that Rice's comments were based on the best information she had at the time.

    Sen. Carl Levin, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on Sunday that the Rice had been "using the unclassified talking points which were provided by the intelligence community."

    NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell contributed to this report from Reuters.

    Intelligence officials say they knew it was terrorist attack from the beginning, and U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice was given unclassified talking points that were deliberately vague. But Republican critics say that helped mislead the public. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

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  • Obama slams GOP criticism of UN Ambassador Rice over Benghazi attack as 'outrageous'

    Just-resigned CIA Director David Petraeus says he will testify this week at congressional hearings looking into the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, as new details emerge about the emails that helped end his career. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

    By James Eng, NBC News

    Updated at 4:44 p.m. ET: President Barack Obama on Wednesday spiritedly defended U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice over her response to the September attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead, assailing Republican criticism of her as "outrageous."

    At his first news conference since winning re-election, the president said Rice has done “exemplary work” and accused GOP critics of trying to “besmirch” her reputation.

    President Obama defends U.N. ambassador Susan Rice against criticism from Sen. John McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham over the Benghazi attacks in Libya.

    “I don’t think there’s any debate in this country that when you have four Americans killed, that’s a problem, and we’ve got to get to the bottom of it and there needs to be accountability. We’ve got to bring those who carried it out to justice. They won’t get any debate from me on that,” Obama said sternly.

    “But when they go after the U.N. ambassador, apparently because they think she’s an easy target, then they’ve got a problem with me.”

    Two of Rice’s main GOP critics refused to back down.

    Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) discusses the Obama administration's handling of the aftermath of the Benghazi attack, accusing the president of "either a cover-up or incompetence." McCain also vowed to block any nomination of UN Ambassador Susan Rice for secretary of state to replace Hillary Clinton.

    Sen. Lindsey Graham said shortly after Obama’s news conference that he had “no intention of promoting anyone who is up to their eyeballs in the Benghazi debacle.” Sen. John McCain added: "We owe the American people and the families of the murdered Americans a full and complete explanation, which for two months the President has failed to deliver.”

    Bebeto Matthews / AP file

    U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice speaks during a meeting on Syria in the United Nations Security Council, Aug. 30.

    Rice has been mentioned as a possible successor to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has said she will not continue to serve in Obama's second term beginning in January.

    Senior Republican senators vowed earlier on Wednesday to block any future promotion of Rice, questioning her initial description of the Sept. 11 violence on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi as a spontaneous outburst rather than a planned attack as unfathomable. Killed in the violence were U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other American officials.


    “My judgment at this time is that four Americans were killed, and the information that our U.N. ambassador conveyed was clearly false," McCain, R-Ariz., the top GOP senator on the Armed Services Committee, told reporters at a Capitol Hill news conference. "There was overwhelming evidence that it was completely false. And she should have known what the situation and circumstances were and not tell the world on all Sunday morning talk shows.” 

    Graham, of South Carolina, supported that stance at the same news conference, saying of Rice, "I don't trust her. And the reason I don't trust her is because I think she knew better, and if she didn't know better, she shouldn't be the voice of America.”

    The two lawmakers along with Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire are pressing for a special, Watergate-style select Senate committee to investigate the Benghazi attack. They complained that separate inquiries by various Senate panels will fail to get to the bottom of the deadly incident.

    Sen. John McCain took to the Senate floor to protest the potential appointment of U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice. At issue are Rice's comments that Benghazi was triggered by a video maligning the Prophet Mohammad. NBC's Kelly O'Donnell reports.

    Rice has been the focal point of accusations that the Obama administration misled the public about the nature of the Benghazi attack. Five days after the attack, she appeared on several news talk programs and said the attack stemmed from outrage in the Arab world over an anti-Muslim video, not an act of terrorism. The White House later corrected that claim.

    Obama wouldn’t comment on whether he’d nominate Rice to replace Clinton on his Cabinet. But he said of Rice: “She has done exemplary work.”

    “She made an appearance at the request of the White House in which she gave her best understanding of the intelligence (on Benghazi) that had been provided to her. If Sen. McCain and Sen. Graham and others want to go after somebody, they should go after me – and I’m happy to have that discussion with them," he said animatedly.

    “But for them to go after the U.N. ambassador, who had nothing to do with Benghazi and was simply making a presentation based on intelligence that she had received, and to besmirch her reputation, is outrageous.”

    Shortly after the president’s remarks, Graham issued the following statement:

    “Mr. President, don’t think for one minute I don’t hold you ultimately responsible for Benghazi.  I think you failed as Commander in Chief before, during, and after the attack. 

    We owe it to the American people and the victims of this attack to have full, fair hearings and accountability be assigned where appropriate. Given what I know now, I have no intention of promoting anyone who is up to their eyeballs in the Benghazi debacle.”

    McCain said initial Obama administration statements the the Benghazi attack was triggered by a spontaneous demonstration and a hateful video “clearly did not comport with the facts on the ground.“

    In a statement issued after Obama’s news conference, McCain repeated his call for a select committee to be appointed “to obtain a full and complete accounting which would be credible with the American people."

    Not all Republican senators agree with the the need for a special select committee.

    Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she did not “see the benefit” of such an approach, noting the Homeland Security Committee has governmentwide jurisdiction and “a history of producing comprehensive bipartisan reports.”

    Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn, said assigning the matter to a select committee at this point would be “premature.”

    David Petraeus, who stepped down as CIA director last week after acknowledging an extramarital affair, has agreed to testify before Congress on the Benghazi attack. He'll go before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday and the House committee on Friday.

    Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, said Wednesday that he would like to hear from Petraeus but has yet to formally request a meeting with him.

    NBC News Capitol Hill Correspondent Kelly O’Donnell and NBC News Associate Producer Catherine Chomiak contributed to this report.

    More from the news conference:

    President Barack Obama holds his first press conference at the White House since being re-elected to a second term.

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  • Obama: 'No evidence' of national security harm in Petraeus scandal

    President Barack Obama answered a range of questions Wednesday at the White House in his first press conference since being re-elected. NBC's Chuck Todd reports.

    Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

    Ex-CIA Director David Petraeus speaks to members of a Senate Intelligence hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on January 31, 2012.

    By Jeff Black, Staff Writer, NBC News

    President Barack Obama said Wednesday that he has seen no evidence that a scandal that led to the resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus  harmed national security.


    “I have no evidence at this point from what I’ve seen that classified information was disclosed that in  any way would have had a negative impact on our national security,” Obama said at a White House briefing.

    Petraeus, a decorated four-star general who received widespread praise for the surge strategy in Iraq, resigned as CIA director on Friday, citing an extramarital affair.

     

    Numerous federal government officials have told NBC News that the married general had a relationship with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, 40, who authored “All In,” a book about Petraeus’ leadership philosophy.

    Obama brushed aside questions about whether he felt he should have been notified sooner of the investigation of Petraeus.

    “Obviously, there’s an ongoing investigation. I don’t want to comment on the specifics of the investigation, Obama said, “The FBI has its own protocols in terms of how they proceed. … I have a lot of confidence in the FBI.”

    The president was not informed of the FBI investigation that revealed Petraeus’ affair until Nov. 8, one day before he accepted his resignation.

    FBI investigators who looked into a series of anonymous threatening emails sent to Tampa, Fla., socialite Jill Kelley later determined they were authored by Broadwell, multiple government and law enforcement officials have told NBC News.

    Investigators have looked into whether Broadwell violated cyber-harassment laws or improperly possessed classified information, and Obama indicated that the investigation was “ongoing.” Law enforcement officials say they have developed no evidence indicating that Petraeus improperly provided classified information to Broadwell.

    Earlier on Wednesday, NBC News confirmed from a veteran senator that Petraeus will testify Thursday about the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi before the Senate Intelligence Committee. 

    The Thursday hearing will be the first formal congressional inquiry into the September attack that killed U.S. Ambassador in Libya Chris Stevens, information management officer Sean Smith and security personnel Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty. Petraeus is also scheduled to appear at a closed hearing of the House Intelligence Committee on Friday. 

     As FBI investigated Petraeus, he and Allen intervened in nasty custody battle

    Republican lawmakers have criticized the administration’s evolving explanation of what triggered the Benghazi attack. Officials early on said it was a spontaneous reaction during a protest about an anti-Islamic film. Later, it was termed a planned terrorist attack.

    Commenting on the scandal involving General Petraues, President Obama says he's not aware of any breaches of national security resulting from the scandal.

    Questions have also been raised about whether the consulate had adequate security and whether the State Department responded appropriately to requests for more protection.

    Military analyst Col. Jack Jacobs (Ret.) said the sex scandal will affect the way Petraeus is questioned by Congress, because members were kept in the dark about the FBI inquiry that led to his resignation. 

    Defense official fires back, denies Afghanistan commander exchanged 'inappropriate' emails

    “It will be interesting to see what tenor it takes and what the senators and congressmen, assuming he gets before both houses, have to say before talking to him. As you know, these hearings have a tendency to be less a question and answer period than it is an opportunity for the members to vent their spleen or talk about what they want to, so that part will be very, very interesting,” Jacobs said.   

    “In terms of extracting real information about what actually took place and what role the CIA had in what took place in Benghazi, I believe that investigation will determine that they had no role, that by the time the CIA could do anything, it was all over.” 

    NBC's Michael Brunker contributed to this report.

    President Obama says he will "cooperate in any way that Congress wants" in an investigation around the attack on the U.S. consulate in  Benghazi while saying his administration did "everything we could to makes sure we protected our people."

    NBC's Chuck Todd discusses the political fallout from Petraeus-Allen scandal, noting that the White House national security team is probably more worried about wobbly leadership at the CIA and in Afghanistan than political damage.

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