Probe Targets Why U.S. was ‘Last Flag’ in Benghazi

The intention of the chairman of a select committee on Benghazi to bore in on why the United States was “the last flag flying” in the militant-infested Libyan city may reveal what the CIA was doing there and focus on Hillary Clinton's role in the lax security at the U.S. facility where four Americans died.

Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., who was appointed last week to head the House Select Committee on Benghazi, has said he wants to know why the U.S. State Department remained in Benghazi when most other international entities pulled out due to well-known militant activities.

The committee is likely “to dig into what the plan was, if there was one,” for a permanent consulate, and to look into what was known about al-Qaeda and affiliated groups in Benghazi before the attack, says Thomas Joscelyn, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who has written about extremist networks in North Africa.

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Joscelyn says the CIA was tracking al-Qaeda operatives and groups in Benghazi, so the Obama administration was aware of the dangerous situation.

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