An Opportunity for Congressman Weber (R-TX)

Randy Weber, the newly elected Congressman from Texas CD-14, has been assigned to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. This provides him with a very unique opportunity. On January 23rd, his committee is expected to hear testimony from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton regarding attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. This means that Congressman Weber will be able to ask the Secretary questions about the attack and her actions while it was transpiring. I have taken the liberty of drafting some questions that Congressman Weber might want to consider asking Secretary Clinton.

As a former Congressional staff member and as a person who worked closely with the House Foreign Affairs Committee for over 15 years, Bill has prepared literally hundreds of questions for Members of Congress to ask witnesses. Bill has sent the questions shown here to Congressman Weber in an effort to assist him in preparing for these hearings.

Madame Secretary, my time is limited so let me ask you a series of yes and no questions. Please limit your responses to either a Yes or a No answer.

First, were you aware of the attack on U.S. diplomats in Benghazi while it was actually happening? [Yes or No?]
Is it true that these events were being monitored in real time? [Yes or No?]
While the attack was in progress were you aware of the apparent requests for military assistance from our folks on the ground? [Yes or No?]
[If the answer to the last question is "Yes"] Did you take any action or actions to help provide military support to our fellow Americans who were under attack? [Yes or No?]

Did you, or anyone on your staff inform the White House of what was happening, while it was in progress? [Yes or No?]
With the numerous intelligence reports indicating that this was a terrorist act, did you or anyone on your staff inform the White House that this appeared to be a terrorist attack? [Yes or No?]
Were you asked by the White House, or anyone in the Administration, to appear on the Sunday talk shows the weekend following the attack? [Yes or No?]
Did you decline to appear because the talking points did not appear to line up with the facts? [Yes or No?]
Do you know who changed the intelligence community’s talking points omitting the fact that the attack was an act of terror? [Yes or No?]

Thank you Madame Secretary. Now in the time I have remaining please respond to the following:

What actions, if anything, did you take to encourage the White House to help protect or extract our people on the ground while the attack was going on?
To what extent did the White House know that the attack was an act of terror and why do you think they continued in the weeks following the attack to suggest that the attack was a reaction to a video.
Who changed the talking points to eliminate references to acts of terror?
Why is it that senior members of your staff who were responsible for security of our overseas personnel and who failed in protecting Ambassador Stevens, were not fired?