Clinton agrees to testify on Benghazi, emails this month
Hillary Clinton is willing to testify on Capitol Hill later this month about attacks in Benghazi.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Hillary Rodham Clinton is willing to testify on Capitol Hill later this month about the attacks in Benghazi, Libya, and about her email practices, her attorney told lawmakers in a letter Monday.
Former top U.S. diplomat Clinton, who is front-runner to win the Democratic presidential nomination, has faced sustained scrutiny over the September 2012 militant attacks that killed a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans at the U.S. outpost in Libya.
Republicans say there are still unanswered questions about what happened, but Democrats see the continued scrutiny as an effort to undermine Clinton s presidential campaign.
Clinton s lawyer David Kendall said she would testify only for one session the week of May 18 or later, not twice as requested by Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy, chairman of the special panel investigating the Benghazi attacks.
Gowdy had requested one hearing to focus on Clinton s use of private emails, and a separate session on Benghazi.
Kendall said that Clinton would answer all lawmakers questions during one session and it would not be necessary for her to appear twice. He wrote there was "no basis, logic or precedent for such an unusual request."
Top Democrat on the panel, Rep. Elijah Cummings, released Kendall s letter along with a statement saying the lawyer s offer should more than satisfy the Republican demands.
"Chairman Gowdy should take yes for an answer and finally schedule the hearing," Cummings wrote. "Dragging out this process further into the presidential election season sacrifices any chance that the American people will see it as serious or legitimate."
Spokesman Jamal Ware said Gowdy will issue a statement later "regarding the path forward" for Clinton s testimony.
Ware said the committee "has consistently shown it is interested in getting the facts and doing so in a deliberate and diligent manner." He said it was a result of the panel s efforts, "the American people now know about Secretary Clinton s unusual email arrangement with herself."
Clinton previously testified on Capitol Hill over the attacks in January 2013, when she was still secretary of state. Republicans say they have more questions, especially in light of the revelations that she used a private email account while secretary of state and decided which emails to retain and which to turn over to the government.
