By Sharyl Attkisson /
CBS News/ September 11, 2013, 6:02 AM
One year later, Benghazi's lingering issuesOne year after the
Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attacks on Americans in Benghazi, Libya, no arrests have been reported but the Justice Department says investigators have made "very significant progress."
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Last month, government officials confirmed that sealed criminal
charges have been filed against suspects. They are said to include
Ahmed Khattalah, who gave interviews in Benghazi with several news organizations admitting he was at the scene of the attacks but insisting he was not the "ringleader." Khattalah also said that nobody from the U.S. government had attempted to question him.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and other Republican members of Congress
recently sent a letter urging the new FBI Director James Comey to make Benghazi a top priority.
Graham said that intelligence operatives have told him they have leads on suspects "but can't get approval to go after them."
A spokesman for the Justice Department tells CBS News that
"the success of this investigation is a top priority" but would not provide details on its progress "to preserve its integrity."
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The FBI, CIA, Director of National Intelligence, Defense Department, State Department and National Security Agency have
rejected or failed to answer multiple Freedom of Information (FOI) requests made by CBS News, as well as appeals of the denials. The agencies cite exemptions related to ongoing investigations or national security.
The conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch has filed four Benghazi-related FOI lawsuits against the Obama administration to try to produce withheld material. That includes the so-called "talking points" received by then-U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice prior to her appearance on news broadcasts in which she appeared to fault a spontaneous uprising rather than terrorists.
After documents and testimony indicated that the attacks were widely seen as the work of terrorists from the start, nobody has explained how the video became a prevalent storyline.
Among other materials,
CBS News is seeking a declassified version of surveillance camera video recorded during the attacks. The CIA had said it would be released around Thanksgiving of last year but after David Petraeus resigned as head of CIA amid a sex scandal, the video was never released.
CBS News is also seeking White House photos taken the night of the attacks and has asked for an accounting of President Obama's actions. The White House has refused to provide specifics other than saying with first news of the attacks, the president ordered that all necessary actions be taken.
"From the moment [the President] was briefed on the Benghazi attack, the response effort was handled by the most senior national security officials in government," said a White House official.
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