Senator threatens to block CIA pick

Questions linger on Libya attack

— Sen. Lindsey Graham threatened Tuesday to block Senate consideration of President Barack Obama’s nominee to head the CIA in retaliation for the Obama administration’s failure to provide more details about the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

The South Carolina Republican’s threat to place a hold on the nomination of John Brennan as CIA director raises doubts about a second senior nationalsecurity leadership pick by Obama, with several senators already questioning former Sen. Chuck Hagel’s qualifications to be defense secretary.

Also Tuesday, Tunisian authorities released one of the men in custody for purported links to the Benghazi attack, the latest blow to an investigation that has limped along for months.

Graham, a Senate Armed Services Committee member who served as a military lawyer in Iraq and Afghanistan, also voiced concerns about Hagel, a Nebraska Republican who was nominated Monday. But Graham indicated likely support for Obama’s pick of Sen. John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, to be secretary of state.

Criticism over the Benghazi assault, which killed four Americans, from Graham and fellow Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire contributed to U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice’s decision last month to withdraw her name for consideration as secretary of state.

Graham brought up Rice again Tuesday in explaining why he is weighing a block of Brennan’s nomination to head the CIA.

“I have not forgotten about the Benghazi debacle and still have many questions about what transpired before, during and after the attack on our consulate,” Graham said in a prepared statement.

“In that regard, I do not believe we should confirm anyone as director of the CIA until our questions are answered — like who changed Ambassador Susan Rice’s talking points and who deleted the references to al-Qaida?” Graham said. “My support for a delay in confirmation is not directed at Mr. Brennan but is an unfortunate yet necessary action to get information from this administration.”

White House press secretary Jay Carney on Tuesday criticized Graham for threatening to delay Brennan’s nomination.

“It would be unfortunate, I think, if in pursuit of this issue, which was highly politicized, the Senate would hold up the nomination of John Brennan to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency,” Carney said. “As the president said yesterday, that post, as well as the position of secretary of defense, secretary of state — these are essential positions that need to be filled, if possible, without delay.”

Obama chose Brennan, who has held several senior counterterrorism posts under Obama and President George W. Bush, to replace David Petraeus after the retired general resigned after acknowledging an extramarital affair.

Carney blamed the changes in Rice’s talking points on “the process ... of declassifying classified information,” and he ridiculed “the continued political fascination with appearances on Sunday [news] shows.”

Graham, however, said it may have been Obama aides who politicized the issue in the run-up to the Nov. 6 election.

“It is imperative we understand who changed the talking points just weeks before a presidential election, and why,” Graham said. “The stonewalling on Benghazi by the Obama administration must come to an end.”

Appearing on a radio show in South Carolina, Graham contrasted his opposition to Hagel with his likely support for Kerry, both of whom he served with in the Senate.

“Chuck Hagel’s positions on Iran and Israel are dangerously out of the mainstream,” Graham said. “He was one of 12 senators who refused to sign a letter to the European Union asking that Hezbollah be designated a terrorist organization. He asked that Israel negotiate directly with Hamas. And he was one of two senators who voted against sanctions against Iran, saying we should have direct negotiations.”

By contrast, Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, “has been Foreign Relations [Committee] chairman for years; he’s pretty good on Syria; he’s certainly qualified; his views are in the mainstream,” Graham said.

Meanwhile, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton likely will testify before the panel later this month about the Benghazi assault.

Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee said in an interview Tuesday on MSNBC that Clinton probably will testify the morning of Jan. 22.

The State Department said the date hasn’t been finalized, and there was no official word from the committee.

Clinton had been scheduled to testify last month but fell during an illness, suffered a concussion and was hospitalized for a blood clot.

Armed groups assaulted the lightly guarded mission in Benghazi on Sept. 11 and killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. Despite U.S. promises, there has been little news of progress so far in bringing the perpetrators to justice.

Ali Harzi, a 26-year-old Tunisian extradited from Turkey in October, was one of the only people detained over the attack. At the time Tunisian authorities said they “strongly suspected” he was involved.

On Tuesday, however, his lawyer Anwar Oued-Ali said the presiding judge had “conditionally freed” Harzi the night before for lack of evidence. He must remain in the Tunis area to be available for any further questioning.

The FBI declined to comment Tuesday, and the State Department referred all questions to the FBI.

“The president has committed that we will see justice in this case,” State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland said.

Information for this article was contributed by James Rosen, Lesley Clark and Jonathan S. Landay of McClatchy Newspapers and by Bouazza ben Bouazza, Paul Schemm and Esam Mohamed of The Associated Press.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 01/09/2013

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