Family Blames Congress, Not Clinton
The family of the late U.S. Ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens, is speaking out against Republicans’ politicization of his death in Benghazi. Ambassador Stevens was one of four Americans murdered on September 11, 2012 as the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya was attacked. In a rare interview, Ambassador Stevens’ sister, who serves as the family’s spokesperson, said the family does not blame former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for his death, but, rather, looks to Congress.
In an interview published Tuesday, Dr. Anne Stevens told The New Yorker’s Robin Wright that her brother “had a lot of respect for Secretary Clinton,” and “admired her ability to intensely read the issues and understand the whole picture.” She said it is “not appropriate” to “use Chris’s death as a political point.”
Stevens, who is the chief of pediatric rheumatology at Seattle Children’s Hospital, said, “I do not blame Hillary Clinton or Leon Panetta,” speaking of the then-Director of the CIA. “They were balancing security efforts at embassies and missions around the world. And their staffs were doing their best to provide what they could with the resources they had.”
Dr. Stevens places blame at Congress’ feet.
“It is clear, in hindsight,” she added, “that the facility was not sufficiently protected by the State Department and the Defense Department. But what was the underlying cause? Perhaps if Congress had provided a budget to increase security for all missions around the world, then some of the requests for more security in Libya would have been granted. Certainly the State Department is underbudgeted.”
She also says the new Benghazi Committee reports out this week do not provide anything new.Â
Asked, “do you feel that your brother’s death has been politicized in Washington?,” Dr. Stevens replied: “Yes! Definitely politicized.”
“Every report I read that mentions him specifically has a political bent, an accusatory bent,” she laments. “One point that seems to be brought up again and again is the accusation that the attack was a response to the video. I could understand why that conclusion would be made, because it was right after the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Egypt. But, frankly, it doesn’t matter that that was the thinking, that night, about why the attack occurred. It’s irrelevant to bring that up again and again. It is done purely for political reasons.”
Republicans on the House Select Committee on Benghazi on Tuesday claimed they spent two years and $7 million for the sole purpose of giving answers to the families of the four people murdered in Benghazi.
Â
RELATED:
Donald Trump’s Attorney Tweets Meme Saying Clinton ‘Murdered an Ambassador’ in Benghazi
GOP Benghazi Committee Spent 2 Years, $7 Million, Found No New Evidence of Wrongdoing by Clinton
Â