Under Secretary of State Patrick Kennedy said the government of Libya is not allowing U.S. law enforcement into the country to arrest individuals connected with the Benghazi attack because the Libyan government "is not in control to that degree" Wednesday in a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing.
Kennedy explained ever since the events of September 11, 2012 the country has taken a "serious turn for the worse."
Journalists, according to Kennedy, still have access to the country but the Libyan government's authority is so diminished it is incapable of allowing the United States in to arrest people:
REP. TED POE: But at the end of the day, here we are. Nobody has been taken out. Nobody is in custody. Nobody is in jail. Either on the side of the State Department, nobody is in jail, accountable for the murder. So whether it's the people who were responsible for the killing or the people who may have made mistakes about the administration of this, nobody's in custody.
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REP. LOIS FRANKEL: Mr. Kennedy, Ambassador, thank you for your service. And, please, if you want to answer.
MR. PATRICK KENNEDY: I just -- in response to the last question, Congressman, I believe that individuals of the State Department were held responsible. Being a deputy assistant secretary of state or an assistant secretary of state is not -- is not, I humbly submit, sir, being a junior employee. Those are senior positions in the State Department. And for -- one of those individuals resigned as the assistant secretary, and then all of them be relieved of their responsibilities is a serious act of accountability to be relieved at that level. And secondly, Benghazi has taken, even since the events of 9/11, has taken a serious turn for the worse. Yes, they will let journalists in, but they are not letting U.S. law enforcement in to arrest people there because the government of Libya is not -- is not in control to that degree.