INTERVIEWS OF WITNESSES BEFORETHE SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE EVENTS SURROUNDING THE 2012 TERRORIST ATTACK IN BENGHAZI HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, 2012–2016 VOLUME 7 OF 11 Printed for the use of the Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi ( Available on the Internet: www.fdsys.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 22–351 WASHINGTON :2016 ForsalebytheSuperintendentofDocuments,U.S.GovernmentPublishingOffice Internet:bookstore.gpo.gov Phone:tollfree(866)512–1800;DCarea(202)512–1800 Fax:(202)512–2104 Mail:StopIDCC,Washington,DC20402–0001 HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEE ON BENGHAZI TREY GOWDY, South Carolina, Chairman LYNN WESTMORELAND, Georgia ELIJAH CUMMINGS, Maryland JIM JORDAN, Ohio Ranking Minority Member PETER ROSKAM, Illinois ADAM SMITH, Washington MIKE POMPEO, Kansas ADAM SCHIFF, California MARTHA ROBY, Alabama LINDA SA´NCHEZ, California SUSAN BROOKS, Indiana TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois PROFESSIONAL STAFF PHILIP G. KIKO, Staff Director and General Counsel SUSANNE SACHSMAN GROOMS, Minority Staff Director (II) CONTENTS Page InterviewofSpeechwriter#1 .................................................................................. 1 InterviewofSpeechwriter#2 .................................................................................. 111 InterviewofHumaAbedin ...................................................................................... 213 InterviewofDirector,OfficeofTerrorismAnalysis .............................................. 435 InterviewofSeniorLibyanDeskOfficer,OfficeofMaghrebAffairs ................... 437 InterviewofChiefofBase ....................................................................................... 549 InterviewofJeffreyDavidFeltman ....................................................................... 551 InterviewofChiefofOperationsfortheNearEastDivision ............................... 731 InterviewofThomasNides ..................................................................................... 733 InterviewofBernadetteMeehan ............................................................................ 865 InterviewofDeputyDirector,OfficeofMaghrebAffairs ..................................... 1011 (III) INTERVIEW OF SPEECHWRITER #1 BEFORETHE SELECT COMMITTEE ON BENGHAZI HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONEHUNDREDTHIRTEENTHCONGRESS FIRSTSESSION HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, OCTOBER 9, 2015 2 APPEARANCES FOR THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON BENGHAZI CRAIG MISSAKIAN, Deputy Chief Counsel MARK GRIDER, Deputy General Counsel SUSANNE SACHSMAN GROOMS, Minority Staff Director/General Counsel HEATHER SAWYER, Minority Chief Counsel PETER KENNY, Minority Senior Counsel FOR SPEECHWRITER #1 JONATHAN SU, Esq. Latham & Watkins LLP 555 11th Street, Suite 1000 Washington, D.C. 20004 FOR THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE * * *, Attorney-Adviser ERIC SNYDER 3 3 Ms. , this is the transcribed interview being conducted by the House Select Committee on Benghazi. It is being conducted, as I understand it, voluntarily, that you're appearing voluntarily as opposed to pursuant to a subpoena, as part of the committee's investigation into the attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Benghazi, Libya and related matters pursuant to House Resolution 567 of the 113th Congress and House Resolution 5 of the 114th Congress. Could we begin by having you state and spell your name for the record? Ms. . Yes. It's , . Mr.Missakian. First,letmethankyou forappearinghere today. We know you traveled a bit of a distance, so the committee appreciates your cooperation in the investigation. My name is Craig Missakian, I'm one of the lawyers from the majority staff, and at this point, it's traditional for everybody in the room to introduce themselves to you, so why don't I start with Mr. Grider over there in the corner. Mr. Grider. Hi, I'm Mark Grider. Mr. Missakian. And then, Mr. Su, why don't you state your name and relationship to the witness, for the record. Mr. Su. Sure. Jonathan Su, Latham & Watkins on behalf of Ms. . And Craig, when you have a minute, I'd like to make a brief opening remark whenever you have a chance. Mr. Missakian. Absolutely. ? Ms. . , attorney advisor for the U.S. 4 4 Department of State. Mr. Kenny. Peter Kenny with minority staff. Mr. Missakian. All right. Have you ever had your deposition taken before? Ms. . No. Mr. Missakian. Have you ever been interviewed by Congress? Ms. . Nope. Mr. Missakian. Okay. So this will be new to you. There are some procedural and ground rules. I'll just kind of go over those now, and then we'll let your attorney make the statement that he just referred to. Off the record for a second. [Discussion off the record.] Mr. Missakian. Let's go back on the record. Generally speaking, the way questioning proceeds during these interviews is that a member of the majority staff will ask questions for up to an hour, and then the minority will have an opportunity to ask you questions for an equal amount of time. Questions may only be asked by a member of the committee or designatedstaffmember. Wethenrotatebackandforth,1 hourperside until we are out of questions, and at that point, the interview will conclude Unlike testimony or a deposition in a Federal court proceeding, the committee format is not bound by the rules of evidence. The witness or your counsel may raise objections for privilege, and those would be 5 5 subject to review by the chairman of the committee, Mr. Gowdy. If the objections cannot be resolved during the interview, you may be required to return for an additional -- additional session or for a hearing or for a deposition. Members and staff of the committee are not permitted to raise objections when the other side is asking questions. With regard to classified information, this session is going to be treated as unclassified. If any question calls for a classified answer, please let us know and we will reserve its answer until we move into a classified setting if we decide to do that. I don't expect that will happen today, but at any rate, just let us know if your answer requires the disclosure of classified information You are welcome to confer with your attorney at any time during the interview, but if something needs to be clarified, then we simply ask you to let me know. If you don't understand one of my questions, just let me know, and I'm happy to rephrase it. If you need to discuss anything with your counsel off the record and outside the presence of the other members of the staff, just let me know, and we'll take a break. Beyond that, if you want to take a break for any other reason, just let me know. With regard to the court reporter who you see seated here next to you, there will be -- she's an official court reporter and is taking down everything we say. So recognizing that, we just ask that your responses be verbal as opposed to a nod of the head, for example. Occasionally, the witness and the questioner, sometimes have a tendency 6 6 to talk over each other. It makes it difficult for the court reporter, so I will do my best not to talk over you, and I would just ask the same, that you allow me to finish my questions and then we'll allow you to answer. Ms. , you are required to answer questions posed to you from Congress truthfully. Do you understand that? Ms. . I do. Mr. Missakian. This also applies to questions that are posed to you by congressional staff in an interview. Do you understand that? Ms. . Yes. Mr. Missakian. Do you also understand that witnesses that knowingly provide false testimony could be subject to criminal prosecution for perjury or for making false statements? Ms. . I do. Mr. Missakian. Is there any reason why you're not able to give your best truthful testimony during this interview today? Ms. . No. Mr. Missakian. Peter, do you have anything to add? Mr. Kenny. I would just like to thank the witness, thank you, Ms. , for appearing here today. I look forward very much to hearing your statement. Mr. Missakian. All right. Mr. Su, at this point, if I want to make a statement, please do Mr. Su. Sure. So thank you for the opportunity to talk with you all today. Ms. is here, as you noted, voluntarily, you know,