The House committee that has been empaneled on the Benghazi attacks may hear testimony from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the committee's top Democrat said on Tuesday.
Clinton "did not hesitate for one second," when Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings asked her about appearing before the committee,
The Hill reports.
"She said ... I’ll do it, period," he told the Hill after the panel's third hearing.
Cummings, a member of the House since 1996, spoke with Clinton at the request of the panel's chairman, South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy, according to the Hill.
He said Clinton indicated last year that she "wanted to come in December" to testify. That could also have occurred in January.
"The fact is that she was very clear," Cummings said told the Hill.
Clinton was in office on Sept. 11, 2012, when Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans — including two former Navy SEALS — were killed in an assault on the U.S. Consulate in Libya.
She testified before Congress on the attacks the following January — and documents have since been released showing Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes counseling former U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice to link the Benghazi attacks to an anti-Muslim video.
Clinton, who stepped down on Feb. 1, 2013, is now considering a bid for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.
The House Select Committee was created in May 2014, and Gowdy was named to chair it by House Speaker John Boehner. A two-term congressman, Gowdy is a former prosecutor.
Republicans have long called on Clinton to testify before the committee.
Gowdy told the Hill that he and Cummings had agreed last year that Clinton should appear, but that the Democrat then suddenly switched his position.
"The deal I had with Mr. Cummings is we will bring her before the committee within 30 days of receiving all the [State Department] documents responsive to our request," he said.
The agency must provide the data before Clinton testifies, Gowdy said. The information could include some of her Benghazi emails.
"I want to ask specific questions rooted in documents," he said.
The Republican pledged flexibility on Clinton's testimony, cautioning to the Hill that "what I’m not willing to do is do it in a vacuum where I don’t have access to the documents."
Cummings disputed the chairman's comments.
"I don’t know how he could say that because we’ve never been against it," he told the Hill.
"He asked me to check with her. I did that she said she was willing to come so it was a non-issue."
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