While the Obama administration is seeking to bury the Benghazi
controversy by calling it a "phony scandal," new disclosures about the
attack on American diplomatic personnel last September are keeping it
very much alive.
At least five CIA employees have been forced to sign new nondisclosure
agreements aimed at discouraging them from leaking their stories to the
media, even though they had signed such agreements prior to the attacks,
according to Fox News.
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And CNN is reporting that some CIA operatives are being required to take
frequent, even monthly polygraph tests in an effort to uncover who may
be talking to the media or Congress about the attacks on the U.S.
Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that took the life of U.S. Ambassador
Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
Former CIA operative and CNN analyst Robert Baer said it is highly
unusual for agency employees to be polygraphed more often than every
three or four years.
According to communications obtained by CNN, one insider states: "You
have no idea the amount of pressure being brought to bear on anyone with
knowledge of this operation."
CNN is also reporting that dozens of Americans were in Benghazi on the
night of the attacks and are "being intimidated into staying silent."
A source told CNN the number was 35, with perhaps as many as seven
wounded, but it is not known how many Americans in the city were working
for the CIA. Only losses suffered by the State Department have been
reported to Congress.
Some in Congress have speculated that U.S. agencies in Benghazi were
secretly helping to move missiles out of Libya through Turkey and into
the hands of Syrian rebels. The State Department has claimed it was only
helping the Libyan government destroy old or damaged weapons.
Conor Friedersdorf wrote in The Atlantic on Thursday: "To be clear, it
isn't at all certain that the CIA was secretly funneling Libyan weapons
to Syria, long before Congress 'lifted its hurdles' on arming Syrian
rebels. But if CNN's report is correct, the CIA is at minimum trying to
hide something huge from Congress, something that CIA agents might
otherwise want to reveal — itself a reason for Congress to press hard
for information."
Republican Rep. Frank Wolf, whose district includes CIA headquarters in
Langley, Va., is disturbed by the lack of information and the pressure
to silence CIA operatives.
"I think it is a form of cover-up," he said.
He has gone to the floor of the House several times to ask for the
establishment of a select committee to probe the Benghazi affair.
In another action, Rep. Steve Stockman, a Texas Republican, said on
Thursday he plans to force a vote in Congress on creating an
investigative body.
And House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell
Issa, a California Republican, has issued two subpoenas to the State
Department for documents related to the deadly assault in Benghazi that
took place Sept. 11, 2012.
He said in a statement on Thursday he wants all documents the department
gave to an independent review board headed by former diplomat Thomas
Pickering and retired Adm. Mike Mullen, and all documents related to
interviews conducted by the board.
Some lawmakers are concerned that while the government is making efforts
to keep Benghazi personnel silent, not enough progress has been made in
tracking down those responsible for the attacks, Fox also reported.
They cited a report earlier this week that Ahmed Abu Khattala, allegedly
the Benghazi leader of Ansar al-Sharia, an Islamist militia group that
advocates strict Sharia law, said no one from the U.S. government has
contacted him.
Legislators have written a letter this week to FBI Director James Comey
asking him to aggressively pursue the suspects, calling the delay in
identifying them "simply unacceptable."
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