Real News': Benghazi Report Leads to New Criticism of State Department

An independent inquiry convened by the State Department that investigated the Sept. 11 attack on the US diplomatic mission in Libya was made public Tuesday night, offering sharp criticisms of the department for its lack of security personnel and for relying on local militia to safeguard the compound. The unclassified report is thought to vindicate the criticisms made by Republicans like Arizona Sen. John McCain, and during an appearance on CNN Wednesday, Republican Rep. Tim Cole of Oklahoma called the review a "very damning indictment of the State Department performance."

Now that the independent investigators have come down on the department, will any officials--say Hillary Clinton--face penalties or career consequences for their part in this incident? As is often the case in Washington, the blame for the failures seem to be diffused amongst enough bureaucrats to make it difficult place blame squarely on and single person or organization. While the report says those in the State Department provided "grossly inadequate" security, it also says that poor leadership could not be punished under department regulations in the near term:

"The Board recognizes that poor performance does not ordinarily constitute a

breach of duty that would serve as a basis for disciplinary action but is instead

addressed through the performance management system. However, the Board

is of the view that findings of unsatisfactory leadership performance by senior

officials in relation to the security incident under review should be a potential

basis for discipline recommendations by future ARBs, and would recommend a

revision of Department regulations or amendment to the relevant statute to this

end."

The report, and whether anything will come of it, was discussed at the top of "Real News" Wednesday. Watch a clip from the segment below: