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Chaffetz: 'Surreal' to Hear Attempts to Obstruct Hicks from Speaking With Him

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R., Utah) commented on Gregory Hicks' revelation Wednesday that he received instruction not to speak with Chaffetz last fall and was angrily told by Cheryl Mills, Hillary Clinton's Chief of Staff, there should have been a State Department lawyer on hand for a classified meeting:

Hicks testified that he was told by the State Department not to meet with Chaffetz when he traveled to Libya to investigate the Benghazi attack:

During that trip, a lawyer from the State Department was excluded from a classified meeting because he did not have the appropriate security clearance. Following that meeting, State Department general counsel Cheryl Mills called Hicks angry, demanding a report about the meeting. "A phone call from that senior a person is generally not considered to be good news," Hicks said Wednesday.

Chaffetz said he found the whole thing "surreal" on "Hannity", adding the reprimand Hicks got from Mills was unprecedented given that Chaffetz was there to investigate. Hicks was grilled on the subject by Rep. Jackie Speier (D., Calif.), but he made it clear he was explicitly told not to be interviewed by Chaffetz.

HANNITY: Congressman Chaffetz, you went to Benghazi. You met with Mr. Hicks. Apparently he was excoriated for daring to talk to you. It sounds to me like there was an attempt at obstruction. This was Hillary's chief of staff, as I understand it?

CHAFFETZ: Well it's a little bit surreal for me to hear this, but the reality is the first week of October, I did go to Libya. I didn't go to Benghazi, but I was in Tripoli. I did meet with Mr. Hicks, and we heard testimony Mr. Hicks was coached ahead of time, did not allow me to speak to three individuals there, including Mr. Hicks, that the State Department had sent along a baby-sitter to listen and take notes of everything i did. That this person, that Mr. Hicks was chastised by Hillary Clinton's Chief of Staff, that's unprecedented.

HANNITY: I guess to cover their story or to merge their stories?

CHAFFETZ: I mean, the idea that a member of Congress trying to seek out the truth and they're being told not to allow that member of Congress to have an individual conversation, that's pretty stunning.

Full interview: