Pentagon: Benghazi committee asking DOD personnel to 'speculate'

The Pentagon's top liaison to Congress has sent a memo to the House Select Committee on Benghazi criticizing investigators for, among other things, repeatedly asking Defense Department personnel to engage in speculation regarding the Sept. 11, 2012 terror attack in Libya that killed four Americans including Amb. Christopher Stevens.

"DOD interviewees have been asked repeatedly to speculate or engage in discussing on the record hypotheticals, regardless of the interviewee's actual knowledge or expertise to provide appropriate analysis or insight," according to an April 28 memo from Stephen Hedger, the assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs.

"This type of questioning poses the risk that your final report may be based on speculation rather than a fact-based analysis of what a military officer did do or could have done given his or her knowledge at the time of the attacks," Hedger continues.

The memo was released by Democrats on the Benghazi panel, who have long characterized the investigation as a political ploy to tarnish former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Hedger's memo notes DOD remains "committed to accommodating congressional oversight of the tragic event of 2012," but adds that the department is concerned over subpoena threats the committee has made to DOD personnel.

Hedger also states DOD's concern regarding duplication and unnecessary actions the committee has taken.

"Congress has as much of an obligation as the executive branch to use federal resources and taxpayer dollars effectively and efficiently," he wrote. "The department has spent millions of dollars on Benghazi-specific congressional compliance, including reviews by four other committees, which have diligently reviewed the military's response in particular."