On December 19 , 2012 , three State Department officials were reported to have resigned under pressure less than a day after a report blamed management failures for a lack of security at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi , Libya . The Benghazi mission was attacked by militants on September 11 , 2012 and the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans died in the attack . On December 19 , 2012 , an anonymous Obama administration official said Boswell ; Charlene Lamb , the deputy assistant secretary responsible for embassy security ; and Raymond Maxwell , the deputy assistant secretary of state who oversaw the Maghreb nations of Libya , Algeria , Tunisia and Morocco in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs ; had stepped down . The report said poor leadership in both bureaus left the post underprotected . Later reports said four individuals were affected but only Boswell had resigned . The other three were " placed on administrative leave and relieved of their duties " and not officially named
Benghazi mission was attacked
2012 Benghazi attack
Eric J. Boswell