Clinton on Benghazi Security: ‘We Hire People Who Have that Expertise’

Philip Wegmann / June 10, 2014

Hillary Clinton pushed back in an interview that aired Monday regarding accusations that she should have handled the security situation in Benghazi prior to the consulate attack differently.

Questioned by ABC’s Diane Sawyer if there was anything she “personally should have been doing to make it safer in Benghazi,” Clinton pointed to the direct orders she issued those with “expertise and experience in security.”

Sawyer interrupted, saying  “but personally you—” To which, Clinton responded:

Well that is personal, though, Diane. I mean, I am not — I’m not equipped to sit and look at blueprints to determine where the blast walls need to be or where the reinforcements need to be. That’s why we hire people who have that expertise.

Sawyer then suggested that some Americans might expect more regret from the former secretary of state and want “a sentence that begins from you, ‘I should have, I should have.”

Count Heritage Foundation senior diplomacy analyst Helle Dale among those who think Clinton owes more in the way of an explanation. “Hillary Clinton was in charge at the State Department,” Dale said. “How could she not be responsible?”

Clinton’s memoir, Hard Choices, came out today amid widespread speculation she will launch a 2016 bid for the presidency.