SmashMouth

Sen. Lindsey Graham vowed Friday to hold President Obama "accountable" for his leadership on Benghazi, after the top two Defense Department leaders testified that they had just one conversation with Obama during the course of the Sept. 11 terror attack.



During testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey said they spoke with Obama at 5 p.m. ET on Sept. 11 last year. They were both on the same call, and said it lasted about 30 minutes.
Dempsey said they did not speak again until the attack was over.
Graham, who had demanded that Panetta testify on Libya as a condition for allowing the nomination of Chuck Hagel to proceed, aggressively questioned both witnesses on the president's actions.
Graham wrote on his Twitter account Friday: "President Obama has to account for his leadership on #Benghazi and I intend it hold him accountable."
He said Thursday on Fox News that "thus far the White House has delayed, denied, deceived and stonewalled and this has to come to an end. He has to account for his leadership."
During the hearing, Graham questioned why there weren't subsequent follow-up conversations with the president.
"It lasted almost eight hours ... did the president show any curiosity?" Graham asked.
Panetta said there was "no question" Obama "was concerned about American lives."
"With all due respect," Graham responded, "I don't believe that's a credible statement if he never called and asked you, 'are we helping these people?'"
Panetta, as well as committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., defended the president, noting that he has advisers around him to keep him abreast of breaking developments.
"The president is well-informed about what is going on -- make no mistake about it," Panetta said. He said he assumed the chief of staff was talking to Obama about the developments.
A senior defense official also said Friday that after the initial meeting, senior Defense and Joint Staff officials participated in a secure video teleconference with other White House officials, as well as officials from the State Department and CIA. The official said communication between the White House and Pentagon continued through the night.
During the hearing, Graham asked both Panetta and Graham whether they went to sleep that night. They said they did not -- they could not say whether the president did.
"Do you, either one of you, understand some of the frustrations we have?" Graham asked. "This is the first time in 30 years we lost control of an ambassador, and no small deal."
Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed, along with three other Americans, in the attack.


Read more: Panetta recalls just 1 conversation with Obama during Benghazi, Sen. Graham vows accountability | Fox News

dam1953

Not a fan of Panetta but based upon his and Gen. Dempsey's testimonies it appears that the POTUS and SOSOTUS have som explaining to do. It looks like there's been a whole lot of lying going on.

Danno

And the main stream media will essentially ignore it.

If Obama was a Republican his ass would be in a Kenyan prison by now.

saintfan

Correction: Main Stream media IS ignoring it and will continue to do so.

Beastmode

One phone call? I bet he made more calls about his Super Bowl arrangements.

We have a President that just had approved secret service pass the 10 year window all the way up until the day he dies yet these men could not get some help for a few months that they were begging for. Pathetic. We have a serious leadership issue with this administration.