U.S. Sen. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) speaks to the press during a news conference on the terror attack that killed four Americans in Benghazi February 14, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The senator questioned why the Obama Administration did not seek enough help from the Libya government during the attack. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
By Oren Dorell, USA TODAY
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham says he is unsatisfied with the White
House responses to questions about the attack on the U.S. diplomatic
post in Libya and he will block President Obama's pick to lead the CIA
until more information on the Sept. 11 incident is disclosed.
Obama
has nominated White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan to
replace former CIA director David Petraeus, who resigned after admitting
to having an affair.
But Graham told USA TODAY in an interview
that he will not allow the nomination to go forward until the White
House turns over items it has declined to provide, such as drone video
of the attack and e-mails on talking points that falsely claimed the
attack was a protest that got out of control.
The role of the
Congress is to provide oversight of the executive branch," Graham said.
"When Brennan comes up I think it's very relevant what role did he
play?"
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Senate
Intelligence Committee, said she believes a vote should be held
regardless of the questions, saying the issue is whether Brennan is
qualified.
"Mr. Brennan made clear in two confirmation hearings that he will be a strong and capable CIA director," she said.
Tommy
Vietor, spokesman for Obama's National Security Council, said
Republicans first demanded that former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham
Clinton testify, then Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, and now they
"are moving the goal posts yet again."
Ambassador Chris Stevens
and three other Americans died when the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi
was attacked and set on fire by al-Qaeda linked terrorists. The attack
lasted more than seven hours.
Graham delayed a vote of the Senate
Armed Services Committee on Obama's pick to head the Defense Department,
former Nebraska senator Chuck Hagel, until the White House stated
whether Obama contacted government officials in Libya to help rescue the
Americans that night. The answer came back that Obama contacted no one.
More
needs to be answered, Graham said, such as what light can the survivors
shed on the attack. The FBI interviewed survivors who were evacuated
from Libya on Sept. 12.
"I want to know who the survivors are and
for the appropriate committees to interview them," Graham said. "We
know it was clear from the beginning it was a terrorist attack. I want
to know what kind of help they asked for."
Graham also wants to
review White House e-mails that would show the evolution of the
unclassified "talking points" that United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice
used when she said on Sunday talk shows, Sept. 16, that the violence was
"spontaneous" and erupted from a protest to an anti-Islam video
Graham said he wants the e-mails because, "we have two or three versions of who changed them."
Graham
has yet to see a drone surveillance video taken while the attack was
ongoing that could have been viewable in Washington. And he wants the
administration to explain why it kept the facility in Benghazi open even
after the British and other Western governments and organizations had
pulled for safety reasons.
Graham said he believes the lack of
proper security at U.S. installations in Libya was a result of an Obama
policy of maintaining a small American "footprint" there.
"They outsourced our security in Libya to a non-existent Libyan government," Graham said.