Clinton on Benghazi report: 'Time to move on'

DENVER — Hillary Clinton commented on the release of the Republican report from the House Benghazi Committee on Tuesday, saying she would "leave it to others to characterize this report but I think it is pretty clear it is time to move on."

“I have said from the very beginning nothing is more important than the security of our diplomats and our development officials to go into dangerous places around the world pursuing American values, interests and our security," Clinton said in Denver. "And I said this when I testified for 11 hours that no one has thought more about or lost more sleep over the lives that we lost, the four Americans, which was devastating. And we owe to those brave Americans that we make sure we learn the right lessons from this tragedy."


"That’s why I immediately put together an independent committee to go everywhere, look everywhere, come up with what recommendations would help us prevent such tragedies in the future, and that of course should be the goal," she continued. (Tuesday's report, however, concluded that top Clinton adviser Cheryl Mills had influenced the findings of that committee, known as the Accountability Review Board, casting doubt on its independence.)

"I understand that after two years and more than $7 million spent by the Benghazi Committee out of taxpayer funds, it had to today report it had found nothing," Clinton continued, "nothing to contradict the conclusions of the Independent Accountability Board or the conclusions of the prior multiple earlier investigations carried out on a bipartisan basis in the Congress. So while this unfortunately took on a partisan tinge, I want us to stay focused on what I’ve always wanted us to stay focused on and that is the important work of diplomacy and development."

That principle, she went on, is "especially true in dangerous places."

"We cannot withdraw or retreat from the world. America needs a presence for a lot of reasons," she continued. "And the best way to honor the commitment and sacrifice of those we lost is to redouble our efforts to provide the resources and support that our diplomats and our development experts deserve. So I'll leave it to others to characterize this report but I think it is pretty clear it is time to move on."

The final report by Republicans on the Benghazi panel provided a scathing indictment of the Obama administration's response to the attack, although Democrats, like Clinton, immediately dismissed it as a partisan charade. Still, the report did offer some new details on the attacks, including a hastily convened teleconference the night of the assault and how CIA analysts' assessments might have misled officials in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

The comments came at the end of Clinton's speech at Galvanize, a tech education and work space in Denver, to roughly 150 workers in response to a reporter's question about the report's release. Clinton mentioned that she had met with Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, seen as a contender on the long list of her list of potential running mates. Following the speech, Clinton was slated to attend a fundraising event in the Denver area before traveling to Los Angeles for a town hall event.