Former CIA Director David Petraeus will testify before a congressional
committee this week about the deadly September 11 attack on the U.S.
consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
Petraeus will appear before the House Intelligence Committee in a closed
door session on Friday, exactly one week after he resigned after an FBI
investigation uncovered his extramarital affair with his biographer,
Paula Broadwell, and raised concerns about a possible breach of national
security.
Petraeus will discuss his trip to Libya to investigate the attack,
which led to deaths of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three
other diplomatic officials. He has also agreed to appear before the
Senate Select Intelligence Committee; the chairman of the panel, Senator
Diane Feinstein, says his testimony has not been scheduled.
Petraeus was scheduled to testify this week before the Senate committee
before he abruptly resigned. Acting CIA Director Michael Morell will
testify in Petraeus's place before the Senate committee Thursday, along
with national intelligence director James Clapper.
Security concerns
Many lawmakers have raised concerns about whether there was adequate
security at the consulate, and if the Obama administration attempted to
conceal information to avoid any embarrassment before the November 6
presidential election.
President
Barack Obama addressed the September attack during his press conference
Wednesday. The president angrily spoke out against what he termed
"outrageous" criticism by Republican lawmakers against the U.S.
ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, who has come under fire
over comments she made following the attack.
Rice appeared on several Sunday morning network public affairs shows and
said the attack grew out of a spontaneous protest over an anti-Muslim
film produced in the U.S. Information later surfaced that the attack was
instead planned by al-Qaida.
The White House says Rice based her comments on information provided to
her by the intelligence community.
Obama said she has done "exemplary" work representing U.S. interests
with skill. The president did not say if he planned to pick her to
replace Hillary Clinton as U.S. secretary of state.
