Secretary of State John Kerry has agreed to testify on the Benghazi attack in response to the second subpoena from the House Oversight Committee. Furthermore, the State Department reasoned that if Kerry speaks before the House Oversight Committee, there will be no need for him to testify again before the Special Committee on Benghazi.
As captured by the Associated Press:
In a letter to Chairman Darrell Issa, a clearly annoyed department said diplomatic responsibilities prevent Kerry from testifying on May 29, the date of a committee subpoena. The department offered alternative dates of June 12 or June 20.
The department said Kerry's testimony should be sufficient and "would remove any need for the secretary to appear before the select committee to answer additional questions."
There was no immediate word from Issa, who is pursuing an ongoing investigation into the Sept. 11, 2012, attack that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
The department asked Issa to withdraw the May 29 subpoena, which it said "was issued despite the department having expressed a desire to accommodate your committee's interests and, like the first (subpoena), it arrived while the secretary was traveling overseas representing the United States on urgent national security issues and without confirming the secretary's availability on that date."
Kerry did not attend the first congressional committee hearing he was ordered to appear before on May 21 due to a trip he was taking through Mexico.
The date for Kerry’s future testimony on Benghazi has not yet been confirmed.
