Divisive Clinton confidante Sidney Blumenthal will testify before the House Select Committee on Benghazi Tuesday as part of the same congressional probe that uncovered Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email and server to hide her records at the State Department.
Blumenthal, a former Clinton aide who was reportedly barred from working at State, will give his deposition behind closed doors Tuesday morning, committee staff said.
Rep. Trey Gowdy, chairman of the select committee, issued a subpoena for Blumenthal May 19 following reports that the Clinton ally had prepared a series of Libyan intelligence memos for Clinton in the run-up to the 2012 terror attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.
The South Carolina Republican has also asked Clinton to testify before the committee about both her role in the botched Benghazi response and her use of a private server.
Clinton’s lawyer has stated the presidential candidate is willing to testify before the select committee only once.
Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., told the Washington Examiner Tuesday’s interview will focus on uncovering the details of how and why Blumenthal obtained intelligence in Libya.
“The committee’s interest in Mr. Blumenthal is based on a large number of emails regarding Libya to former Secretary Clinton,” said Westmoreland, who is a member of the select committee. “We are looking for the facts: the depth of his involvement, why he had this information, who gave it to him, etc.”
A batch of Benghazi-related emails between Clinton and her staff that were published last month revealed the significant influence Blumenthal wielded over Clinton when she led the State Department.
One memo dated Sept. 12, 2012, mentioned the now-infamous YouTube clip that the administration first cited as the catalyst for the attack.
“[T]he attacks…were inspired by what many devout Libyans viewed as a sacrilegious Internet video on the prophet Mohammed originating in America,” Blumenthal wrote in an email to Clinton the day after the raid.
Blumenthal’s ties to the Clintons date back to 1997, when Bill Clinton first brought him into the fold as an assistant in the White House.
Hillary Clinton defended her reliance on Blumenthal as the main source of her intelligence in Libya by claiming she was simply accepting “unsolicited” information from an “old friend.”
