Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton appeared before a panel Thursday regarding the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, during Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state.
The attack, which left four Americans dead, resulted in criticism of State Department officials, including Clinton, for denying requests for additional security at the consulate before the attack.
During the hearing, Democratic and Republican committee members clashed, and at one point erupted into shouting matches about the focus on emails sent between Hillary Clinton and Sidney Blumenthal, former aide to Bill Clinton and friend of Hillary Clinton. Furthermore, committee chairman Trey Gowdy accused Clinton of using a private email server to conduct official State Department business.
Although she said she feels responsible for the Benghazi deaths, Clinton continually and forcefully denied she was directly to blame for security lapses.
“I was responsible for quite a lot,” Clinton said during the hearing. “I was not responsible for specific requests and security provisions — that is not something I was responsible for.”