The probe into misconduct has expanded to include General John Allen. Secretary Panetta’s statement is here.
A number of lawmakers said they will insist that Petraeus testify during closed-door hearings this week on the Benghazi attack in which U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed. Petraeus visited the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, less than two weeks ago for talks with the CIA station chief and other officials. Lawmakers are likely to question whether Broadwell was improperly given access to sensitive information about the attack.
In a late October speech at the University of Denver, she said that the CIA annex where two of the Americans were killed “had actually taken a couple of Libyan militia members prisoners” and that the attack was thought to be “an effort to get them back.” U.S. officials have not made reference to that possible motive in numerous accounts of the Benghazi attack. A CIA spokesperson called the suggestion that the agency keeps prisoners in Libya “uninformed and baseless,” in a statement issued Sunday night. “The CIA has not had detention authority since 2009,” it said. The administration has said that Mike Morell, Petraeus’s deputy and now acting CIA director, will testify for the agency. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) suggested on CBS’s “Face the Nation” the formation of a joint select committee of the House and Senate, similar to those convened to investigate the Watergate and Iran-contra.
ON THE FORCE
Senator Kerry is being considered for Secretary of Defense.
ON TECH
Antivirus pioneer John McAfee is on the run from murder charges, Belize police say. According to Marco Vidal, head of the national police force’s Gang Suppression Unit, McAfee is a prime suspect in the murder of American expatriate Gregory Faull, who was gunned down Saturday night at his home in San Pedro Town on the island of Ambergris Caye.
Robert Caruso is a veteran of the United States Navy, and has worked for the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, Business Transformation Agency and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
