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King: 'No Question the State Department Screwed Up' in Benghazi

'I haven't seen any real accountability, and I think that's been a failure in this whole process'

January 19, 2014

Sen. Angus King (I., Maine) said there was no doubt the State Department "screwed up" on security in Benghazi and expressed frustration no one had been truly held accountable Sunday on State of the Union.

King addressed the Senate Intelligence Committee report released this week stating the terrorist attack was preventable and that the State Department was at fault for not heeding warning signs about a growing security concern for the consulate in the weeks and months leading up to the deadly assault.

"There's no question the State Department screwed up here," King said. "There should be accountability, in my opinion. Who did make that decision in light of all that information, and why, and I think that's a very fair question. I'm surprised and disappointed. I know some people have been shifted around, but if accountability means anything, it means somebody paying a price for having made a disastrous decision."

The report also indicated the attackers had ties to al Qaeda. Host Candy Crowley asked if King would agree that no one had been held responsible for the State Department's failings in protecting a U.S. property, despite the warnings.

"I haven't seen any real accountability, and I think that's been a failure in this whole process," he said.

King dodged when Crowley asked him whether Secretary of State Hillary Clinton herself bore responsibility for the deaths of four Americans, saying it was a "political question" and the American people would have to make the decision about her culpability.

Published under: Angus King , Benghazi