Rand Paul Makes It Clear: 'I Really Think' The Admin May Have Had a 'Gun-Running Operation' in Libya

Few Democratic or Republican leaders have been as outspoken in their views on the Benghazi debacle and the administration's role in a potential gun-running scheme than Sen. Rand Paul. In fact, the Kentucky Republican excoriated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her recent testimony on the matter, saying that if he had been president at the time, he would have "relieved" her of her post.

Since then, the senator has been consistently pressing the administration for answers on whether it had been running guns through Libya, thereby catalyzing the death of Ambassador Stevens.

A partial transcript of the senator's Thursday appearance on Fox News featuring his key points on the issue is featured below [emphasis added]:

I really think part of the cause may have been there was a gun running operation going on in Benghazi, leaving Libya and going to Turkey and distributing arms to the rebels… They’ve interviewed the captain of the ship. A ship from Libya sailed for Turkey a week before the ambassador was killed. It was full of arms and they interviewed the captain and he actually specifically talks about the distribution of the arms to Syrian rebels… And I think the administration needs to answer, 'are they running guns through Turkey to Syria?'

While not as direct as Paul, House Speaker John Boehner indicated in late January that he, too, might have knowledge of a potential gun-running scheme via an alleged "classified source."

(h/t: Jim Hoft)