Ron Johnson: Hillary Knows She's 'Culpable' for Benghazi

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is well aware of her culpability leading to the Benghazi attack but still won't come clean to the American people, says U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson.

It was Johnson's grilling of Clinton in January 2013, in which he hammered away at the State Department's initial report that the attack was a reaction to an anti-Islam video — that prompted her infamous reply, "What difference at this point does it make?"

"Some choose not to be honest with the American people … some choose not to provide all of the evidence when requested or subpoenaed by Congress so, the fact of the matter is we still don't know the truth," the Wisconsin Republican told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.

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"The reason Hillary Clinton responded so testily to my pretty basic question, which was really why didn't you just … pick up the phone, call the survivors, you'd found out immediately what happened … is because she knew how culpable she was.

"She understood her gross dereliction to duty in not providing the added security that was requested [by Ambassador Christopher Stevens, who was killed] … She understands that four Americans did not have to die, all we would've had to do is provide a small contingent of armed guards."

But Johnson said that wasn't the narrative the White House wanted to push.

"They wanted to show … President [Barack] Obama's genius policy leading from behind was working swimmingly well, that al-Qaida really was on the run, that it was decimated," he said.

"That was false, and because they didn't beef up security, four Americans are dead, and she felt culpable, and that's why she was so testy and why she, like you say, uttered those infamous remarks."

Johnson said the newly created House select committee on Benghazi should depose Clinton, who is the presumed Democratic candidate in the 2016 presidential election.

"She was never interviewed in the Accountability Review Board. That was such a weak attempt to get to the truth, and that's been the problem here all along," Johnson said.

"You'd think politicians would understand that the cover-up is what always gets them in trouble — in this case, the real outrage really was that dereliction of duty — but the reason this thing keeps going on and on and on is because this administration hasn't been straightforward with us, they haven't told us the truth."

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