After a long, exhausting day of testimony, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was finally asked by Kansas Republican Mike Pompeo about the possibility that a gun-running operation was taking place in Benghazi when Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed during an uprising on September 11, 2012.
CNN and other news organizations have reported that CIA agents were on the ground and supplying weapons and that is the reason for secrecy around the investigation of the attacks.
As Pompeo took his final turn at questioning Clinton, he said he had held his final line of questioning in case Clinton needed to answer in a classified setting.
She didn't, but her answers were noticeably less self-assured than had been seen the rest of the day.
Pompeo asked Clinton is she was ever aware of any efforts by the U.S. government to provide weapons to Libyan rebels or Syrian rebels either directly or through a third party or country.
"No," Clinton answered weakly.
Pompeo then asked whether she had ever considered the idea of using private security experts to arm the opposition in Libya.
Clinton took a long pause, finally volunteering, "Not seriously, no."
Pompeo read from an email from Clinton to her aide Jake Sullivan: "FYI, the idea of using private security experts to arm the opposition should be considered."
"Were you just not serious?" Pompeo asked.
Clinton repeated that the idea "was not considered seriously."
"But you thought about it," Pompeo said. "You thought it might be both appropriate and lawful when you sent that note to Mr. Sullivan."
"I'm open to ideas but that doesn't mean they are either considered seriously or acted upon," Clinton said.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.