History

The 2012 attacks in Benghazi have been investigated by seven different congressional committees, including the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the House Committee on Armed Services, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the House Committee on the Judiciary, and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.  These committees, in addition to the independent Accountability Review Board, have issued eight reports on the attacks.  These panels interviewed dozens of witnesses, reviewed tens of thousands of pages of documents, conducted multiple classified interviews and briefings, and held multiple public hearings.  On May 8, 2014, the House of Representatives adopted H. Res. 567, Providing for the Establishment of the Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi, Libya.

Costs

In a letter to Congress on March 11, 2014, the Department of Defense stated that it has “devoted thousands of man-hours to responding to the numerous and often repetitive congressional requests regarding Benghazi.”  The Department’s estimate included “time devoted to approximately 50 congressional hearings, briefings, and interviews which the Department has led or participated in.”  The Department estimated that the total costs it has expended during previous congressional reviews ran “into the millions of dollars.”