Sen. Lindsey Graham on Sunday criticized a bipartisan House report that found no problems with the intelligence leading up to the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
The South Carolina Republican, during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” called the House Intelligence Committee report “full of crap” and said it would not stop him from continuing to look into Benghazi next year when the GOP assumes control of the Senate, and with it expanded powers to conduct oversight of the Obama administration. The report was overseen by retiring House Intelligence panel Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich.
“I know Benghazi pretty well,” Graham said. “I don’t believe that the report is accurate.”
The report was conducted by the House Intelligence Committee and declassified on Friday. It debunks several conspiracies regarding the administration’s involvement in the attacks that killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. The bipartisan team of investigators praised the CIA and military personnel who responded to the attacks, saying their actions saved American lives.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who serves on the House Intelligence Committee, said the report ought to put an end to GOP claims that the administration isn’t being truthful about how it responded to the attacks. Schiff said the committee’s report “exonerates” President Obama and his team of any malfeasance or political manipulation after the fact.
“Nothing I think Lindsey says at all contradicts what’s in that report, and calling it crap doesn’t all change the fact that it was an exhaustive and objective review,” the California Democrat said Sunday on CNN. “I think we’ve had the final word on many of these conspiracy theories, the fact there was no stand-down order, there was no political interference, there was no effort to politically spin the talking points.”
Washington Examiner Congressional Correspondent Sean Lengell contributed to this report.
