Clinton to testify at special panel's hearing on Benghazi attacks

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would testify before a special Congressional panel investigating the terror attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, which killed four Americans in 2012, her lawyer said Monday.

In a letter to lawmakers, Clinton's lawyer David Kendall said Clinton would testify once in the week of May 18 or later, instead of twice as requested by House Representative Trey Gowdy, chairman of the U.S. House Select Committee on Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attacks in Benghazi.

Gowdy, a Republican, had asked Clinton to testify at one hearing on the Benghazi attacks and another on her use of private emails during her 2009-2013 tenure as secretary of state, but Clinton said she would only attend one hearing at which she would answer all questions by the committee.

The House special panel was created in May 2014 by House Speaker John Boehner in order to conduct further investigation into the Benghazi attacks that resulted in the killing of U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

The State Department led by Clinton was criticized for mismanagement and covering up information regarding the attacks. Clinton had already testified at a Congressional hearing on the Benghazi attacks in January 2013 when she was still in office. She defended herself by saying that requests for more protection of the consulate in Benghazi did not reach her desk.

As Clinton has announced her run for president in the 2016 elections, Republicans obviously are determined to make the case that Clinton's time at the State Department was a situation in which she lacked competence and leadership.

Clinton, the front-runner in the Democratic field for the 2016 presidential race, has also been under scrutiny recently after U.S. media exposed that she solely used a private email account to conduct business during her tenure as secretary of state, and kept a private server at her residence. This sparked a wave of controversy and myriad questions, such as whether she sent any classified information through the account.

Though the controversies will not torpedo Clinton's nomination, they could help Republicans portray her as someone who is, in their view, a consummate politician who will do whatever it takes to win, and to whom the rules do not apply, U.S. analysts said.