WASHINGTON, May 9 (Reuters) – The Republican leader of the
U.S. House of Representatives called on the White House on
Thursday to release more information about last year’s deadly
attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, as his party kept
up its pressure on the Obama administration over the incident.
House Speaker John Boehner urged the Obama administration to
release an email sent by a State Department official relaying
that she had told the Libyan ambassador the attack was conducted
by Islamist militants.
“The State Department would not allow our committees to keep
copies of this email when it was reviewed. I would call on the
president to order the State Department to release this email so
the American people can see it,” Boehner told a news conference.
Gregory Hicks, a former top U.S. diplomat in Libya, gave a
dramatic account in a congressional hearing on Wednesday of the
attack that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other
Americans.
The Benghazi assault shadowed President Barack Obama as he
campaigned for re-election in the autumn, as Republicans accused
the administration of trying to cover up details of the attack
out of concern it would make him appear weak on foreign policy.
Democrats in turn accuse Republicans of seeking to use the
attack to score political points.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Vicki Allen)
