Statements from the Obama administration reported in the press over the past few days regarding Benghazi and the continued investigation there have left lingering questions for the White House. I have submitted my own questions and had the opportunity to be briefed by intelligence officials in the Senate on Tuesday.
 
With an administration unwilling to shoot straight with the American people, it is essential that we gain access to General Petraeus’s comprehensive report on the tragedy that unfolded in Benghazi on September 11. The CIA has at times denied the existence of the report and at other times admitted that it does exist but is not yet completed. I share the frustrations of Senator Feinstein, Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, who has called for the White House to release the report and appreciate her leadership on this issue.  The American people deserve answers. General Petraeus’s testimony and the thorough report from his visit to Benghazi are essential to getting them.
 
One of the questions I hope to have answered either in the report or during testimony is the connection between the attacks on our consulate and the YouTube video that was originally thought to be the cause of the protests. In his first remarks to Congress after the attacks, General Petraeus focused on the YouTube video as a cause.  We now know that some in the intelligence community never believed that to be the case. Why did General Petraeus, head of the Central Intelligence Agency, focus so heavily on the video’s role in the attack several days later? Did the head of America’s top intelligence agency have false information? If so, what needs to be done in the future to ensure that the head of the CIA is privy to the same quality of intelligence as the people that work for him?
 
I look forward to getting to the bottom of this issue and making sure Americans have unimpeachable faith in America’s national security agencies.