MOSCOW, May 6 (RIA Novosti) – Differences between emails obtained by a watchdog group and others presented to the congressional committee investigating the 2012 deadly attack on the American diplomatic mission in Libya, raise serious concerns US authorities are withholding important information, Fox News has reported.
"The key question is whether Congress now has all the documents,” Republican Jason Chaffetz, a member of the oversight committee, was quoted as saying Monday.
“They are playing games. The classification and redactions are different. Why should Judicial Watch get more than Congress after issuing a subpoena?" he said.
According to Fox News, the differences between the emails published by Judicial Watch last week and those provided to the House committee raise concerns about the US administration trying to withhold evidence from Congress.
"By withholding information, this Administration has only itself to blame for the continued questions about the before, during, and after of the Benghazi attacks. Removing information from documents subpoenaed by Congress, while the same documents with more information are released publicly, underscores the games the State Department continues to play as Congress presses for full and truthful answers about the deaths of four brave Americans," a spokesman for the oversight committee was quoted as saying.
The documents released by Judicial Watch include names of the participants, while emails presented to the committee do not contain them. There also differences in classification – the documents were initially marked as “unclassified” by the US Department of State, but later provided to Judicial Watch as “secret.” Congress, however, received the same emails as “confidential” and to be declassified only in 2037.
Both the White House spokesman Jay Carney and the US State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf denied the allegations, saying the administration had no intention of withholding information from Congress and provided all necessary documents for the investigation.
On September 11, 2012, an armed group of Libyan jihadists attacked an American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, killing an ambassador and another employee. The next day, two more US embassy workers were murdered by the militants in a second attack on the CIA building in Benghazi.
The attacks were believed to have been launched as a protest against the video Innocence of Muslims. The US Congress and administration launched an investigation. Several people were charged for involvement into the attacks, but nobody was sentenced. In May last year, the White House announced a special committee would be created to look into the materials on the Benghazi tragedy.
