Tired of Waiting for Answers: Darrell Issa Subpoenas Four State Dept. Officials for Benghazi Info

WASHINGTON (TheBlaze/AP) -- The chairman of the House Oversight Committee has subpoenaed four State Department officials as part of the panel's investigation of the deadly assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, last year.

Republican Rep. Darrell Issa said in a statement and letter to Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday that delays in scheduling interviews with the officials were taking too long and he had no choice.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 6, 2013, ahead of witness testimony before the committee's hearing regarding IRS conference spending. Credit: AP

"These persistent delays create the appearance that the Department is dragging its feet to slow down the Committee’s investigation," Issa wrote in the letter to Kerry. "It does not require weeks of preparation to answer questions truthfully. These delays also take us further in time away from the dates of the events in question."

Subpoenas have been issued for Eric Boswell, the former Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, Scott Bultrowicz, the former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary and Director of the Diplomatic Security Service, Elizabeth Dibble, the former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs ad Elizabeth Jones, the acting Assistant Secretary, Bureau Near Eastern Affairs.

Four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, died in the Sept. 11, 2012, attack. Republicans have accused the Obama administration of misleading the public about the cause of the attack, playing down terrorism in the heat of the presidential election.

(Photo: AP)

Issa claims congressional investigators sent the administration a list of 13 State Department officials they wish to interview nearly two months ago, but have only been given access to one official.

Issa issued subpoenas for officials involved in diplomatic security.

Democrats have criticized the House Republican efforts as politically motivated.

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