Special Benghazi committee to begin interviewing government officials

The chairman of a special House committee investigating the Benghazi, Libya attacks in Sept. 2012 released a list of current and former top administration officials the committee intends to interview in April.

Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-South Carolina, listed 20 officials, including Gen. Martin Dempsey, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, former CIA Director David Petraeus, White House chief of staff Denis McDonough, and national security adviser Susan Rice, among others.

The committee will interview State Department personnel about the attacks beginning "as early as next week," according to Gowdy's statement.

The State Department agreed to the interviews last week but said that since many of the potential witnesses work overseas, the department "will need flexibility" as to when the witnesses will appear.

Gowdy has also said he would like to hear from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He said Friday that appearance should occur "as soon as possible."

Gowdy said last week he was frustrated at the slow pace of the investigation and was going to "ratchet it up." He also plans to interview former UN Ambassador Thomas Pickering and Adm. Mike Mullen, who chaired an independent panel that reviewed the September 2012 attacks, which killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

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Pickering was President George H.W. Bush's U.N. envoy, and Mullen was the top U.S. general under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

Their report harshly criticized the State Department for its security posture in the months before militants stormed the Benghazi facility. But House GOP members said their review was incomplete and lacked independence.