Clinton friend Blumenthal testifies to Benghazi panel

Sidney Blumenthal, a longtime ally of Hillary Clinton who was an unofficial adviser when she was U.S. Secretary of State, testified on Tuesday behind closed doors before a congressional panel probing the deadly 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya.

Although congressional investigators subpoenaed Blumenthal to require his attendance, he promised to cooperate with the committee. The House of Representatives panel was looking into memos he emailed to Clinton about Libya around the time of the Sept. 11, 2012, Benghazi attacks that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

The committee's chairman, South Carolina Republican Trey Gowdy, said during a break that Blumenthal was answering questions in a "very civil atmosphere."

Asked whether he had learned anything new about Benghazi Gowdy said, "any time you talk to a witness, you learn new information."

He denied Democrats' accusations that Republicans are using the investigation to try to discredit Clinton's past management of the State Department as she runs for president in 2016.

"I fail to see how we're playing politics by talking to someone who sent a large number of memos to the top diplomat we had during the relevant time period," Gowdy said.

Representative Adam Smith, a Washington state Democrat on the committee, called the Blumenthal deposition a diversion that "was only tangentially, at best, involved with Benghazi."

Smith declined to discuss details of the session but said the investigation in general "is not going, I think, in a productive direction."

Blumenthal's emails were among 850 pages of Clinton's messages related to Libya the State Department released to the public last month. Some contained information from a former CIA official, Tyler Drumheller. One said fighters had infiltrated a demonstration outside the U.S. mission in Benghazi before attacking it, but a December 2012 State Department report concluded there was no protest at the mission then.

Blumenthal gave nearly 60 new emails to the committee ahead of his appearance, according to Gowdy.

The message traffic has raised questions about whether Blumenthal or his associates were trying to promote business interests in Libya, an allegation people close to him have denied. Blumenthal, who once worked as a senior adviser to former President Bill Clinton, has said he sent the emails as a private citizen and friend.

The State Department has promised to release thousands of other Clinton emails, which were sent and received on a private server in her home, in coming months.

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Sidney Blumenthal, Hillary Clinton, Benghazi, Republicans, CIA, Libya, Bill Clinton

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