White House Punts on Whether CIA Employees Are Experiencing Retaliation for Talking About Benghazi

The White House on Thursday deferred questions about whether the CIA is cracking down on employees in order to prevent leaks about last year's terror attacks in Benghazi.

White House press secretary Jay Carney punted on whether CIA employees are experience retaliation for discussing the Benghazi attacks. (Getty Images)

CNN reported last week that the CIA has been regularly polygraphing employees to find out if they were talking to Congress about the Sept. 11, 2012 assault that killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

Fox News' Ed Henry asked whether Carney could assure Americans that was not the case.

"I don't have any information on the CIA, individuals, or operations around the world,” Carney responded.

Clearly prepared for the question, Carney then read a statement previously released by the CIA in response to CNN's report, claiming to have worked closely with Congress and being unaware of any intimidation.

"The CIA has worked closely with oversight committees to provide them with an extraordinary amount of information related to the event on U.S. facilities in Benghazi,” Carney said.

"Furthermore, CIA leadership has informed officers who may want to speak with the oversight committees on this matter it will support, facilitate such contact,” the statement continued. “CIA employees are always free to speak to Congress if they want to and there is an established process to facilitate such communication on a confidential basis. The CIA enables all officers involved in Benghazi the opportunity to meet with Congress. We are not aware of any CIA employee who has experienced retaliation, including any non-routine security procedures or who has been prevented from sharing concerns with Congress about that.”

Henry followed up asking whether the White House has checked with the CIA to ensure that's the case.

"Again, I would refer you to the statement that the CIA made as a response to that," Carney said.

Watch the interaction below via YouTube/WFB:

CNN reported that CIA employees said they faced the end of their careers if they divulged information about Benghazi. The report also revealed that as many as 35 Americans were at the Benghazi compound on the night of the attack, and as many as 21 Americans were working in the building known as the CIA annex.

Featured image via AP

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