Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said he has "questions that have to be answered." AP file photo
Senator suggests Benghazi coverup
Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., says initial narrative about attack was 'absolutely false.'
Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., suggested on Sunday that the administration covered up information about the terrorist attack in Libya that killed four Americans on Sept. 11.
“I think there are three questions that have to be answered,” he said on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday. “Why weren't the warnings about the need for security heeded? Why weren’t the requests for help during the terrorist attack answered? And why did the administration think it had to cover up all of the things that occurred before by putting out to the American people a narrative that I think will turn out to be absolutely false.”
Kyl did not elaborate on his suggestion. However, much of the criticism surrounding the administration’s response to the attack has focused on U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, who initially said on television that an anti-Islamic video was the cause of the attack, and failed to mention al-Qaida.
Intelligence officials have since said that the talking points Rice was given were changed to omit any references to al-Qaida, and Rice herself told NBC News this week that relied “solely and squarely” on the intelligence she received.
“In fairness to Ambassador Rice, there ought to be the widest public hearing of what led to her statements and others in the administration, particularly, obviously, if she is going to be nominated for Secretary of State or some other high office,” Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., said on CNN.
“She’s had a distinguished career up until now. I don’t feel that I know exactly what she was told before she went on TV that Sunday morning. And I think we ought to find out before we decide on whether she’s a good or bad public servant.”
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Tex., said on CNN that she was “very concerned” about the administration’s response, citing information given during a classified Senate briefing Sept. 20, more than a week after the attack.
“They were telling us things that they knew, that we even saw in the press, were not correct information,” she said, adding that “I do think we need to go into this in depth.”