Kerry to testify on Benghazi

Secretary of State John Kerry has agreed to testify before the House Oversight Committee about the terror attack in Benghazi after being subpoenaed by Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the State Department announced Friday.

State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said Kerry had sent a letter to Issa informing him that he would appear before the panel, but that existing diplomatic responsibilities would prevent him from testifying on May 29, the date requested by the chairman.

Kerry said he would be willing to testify on either June 12 or June 20.

The letter also indicated that the State Department believes that, if Kerry appeared before the Oversight panel, he would not need to testify before a recently created select House committee also investigating the Benghazi attacks.

“We have been clear that we’re willing to work with the committee, despite the fact that the Benghazi oversight has been consolidated under the select committee,” Harf said Friday.

“We believe the secretary’s appearance before HOGR [House Oversight and Government Reform] will eliminate any need for the secretary to appear a second time before the select committee,” she added.

Issa has demanded that Kerry appear before the Oversight panel to discuss recently released emails highlighting the role the White House had a in preparing then-U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice to appear in TV interviews in the days after the attack.

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/international/207106-kerry-to-testify-before-oversight-on-benghazi#ixzz32Z4BWzZu