Gregory Hicks, former deputy chief of mission in Libya, testifies before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s hearing on the deadly assault of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi in Washington, Wednesday, May 8, 2013. Hicks described a 2 a.m. call from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in the middle of the assault, amid confusion about the fate of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and fears about the safety of additional American personnel.WASHINGTON – A former top diplomat in Libya on Wednesday delivered a riveting minute-by-minute account of the chaotic events during the deadly assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi last September, with a 2 a.m. call from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and confusion about the fate of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens.
In a slow, halting and sometimes emotional voice, Gregory Hicks, the deputy chief of mission who was in Tripoli, described for a House committee how a routine day on Sept. 11, 2012, quickly devolved as insurgents launched two nighttime attacks on the facility in eastern Libya, killing Stevens and three other Americans.
The hours-long hearing produced no major revelation while reviving disputes over the widely debunked comments made by U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice five days after the attacks and the inability of the U.S. military to respond quickly.
“I don’t think there’s a smoking gun today. I don’t think there’s a lukewarm slingshot,” said Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis.
The session exposed bitter partisan divisions as Republicans who are pressing ahead with the investigation eight months after the attacks insist the Obama administration is covering up information and Democrats decry politicization of a national security issue.