At times angry and choked with emotion, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday took on Republican critics of her department's handling of the September terrorist attack in Libya that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans, but repeatedly distanced herself from a direct role in specific situations. "As I have said many times since September 11, I take responsibility," Clinton told two long-anticipated congressional hearings examining the attack that became a major issue in the November presidential election. Conservative Republicans challenged Clinton on the lack of security at the diplomatic compound in Benghazi, where Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others were killed, as well as the erroneous account provided four days later by U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice that the attack grew spontaneously from a protest over an anti-Islam film produced in the United States.
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Secretary of state completes more than five hours of sometimes contentious hearings
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Libya wanted to provide security, but lacked the capacity, Clinton said
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"I take responsibility," Clinton tells Senate committee
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Clinton's appearance before Congress was delayed due to health issues
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The independent report from the review board said it did not find "that any individual @placeholder government employee engaged in misconduct or willfully ignored his or her responsibilities" leading up to the attack.
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He said her department had yet to fully disclose all e-mails and other communication from Stevens and others in @placeholder, noting the American people, including the family and loved ones of those killed, deserved full answers.
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Critics also complain the assailants remain at large, and Clinton noted that "we continue to hunt the terrorists responsible for the attacks in @placeholder and are determined to bring them to justice."
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The review panel's report "said our response saved @placeholder lives in real time -- and it did," she added.
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"What I found with the @placeholder was willingness but not capacity," she said.