Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denied that an order was ever given denying the Americans in Benghazi military assistance, saying she personally organized the State Department response to the Benghazi assault.
“I directed our response from the State Department,” Clinton said in her opening statement before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, saying there were “no delays in decision making, no denials of support from Washington or our military.”
She emphasized her personal investment in the safety of State Department employees around the world, even getting choked up while talking about the day the bodies of the fallen Americans arrived back in the United States.
“I stood next to President Obama as the Marines carried those flag-draped caskets off the plane at Andrews,” she said in her prepared statement. “I put my arms around the mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters.”
As for the requests for additional security before the attacks, Clinton pointed out that those were handled by security officers within the department. “I didn’t see those requests,” she said.
