The Obama Administration filed the first criminal charges related to the Benghazi terrorist attack. The charges were filed just hours before CNN will air their interview with the accused terrorist.

The Daily Mail reported:

Arwa Damon, a CNN reporter, spoke with Ansar al-Sharia leader Ahmed Abu Khattala in an interview to be broadcast Tuesday night. The network first reported on the criminal charges against him a few hours before airtime.

U.S. government officials have reportedly filed the first criminal charges related to the Sept. 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya that left four Americans dead and a diplomatic outpost in ruins.

Reuters interviewed Ahmed Abu Khattala back in October 2012 at a hotel restaurant.

He’s been free to roam for the past year.

Reuters reported:

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A Libyan militia commander who U.S. officials say is under investigation in connection with the attacks on the American consulate in Benghazi which led to the death of the ambassador said he was present during the incident but was not one of the ringleaders.

Some American newspapers have quoted unnamed Libyan officials as pointing to Ahmed Abu Khattala as the leader of the attacks on Sept, 11. The newspapers also reported that the officials said Abu Khattala’s whereabouts were unknown.

U.S. government sources told Reuters that Abu Khattala is being investigated as a suspect in the Benghazi consulate attacks though U.S. investigators are not clear at this point if he played a role in leading or organizing the attacks…

…In an interview, Abu Khattala told Reuters he had only heard he was a suspect through news media and was surprised that officials had told journalists he was at large.

“These reports say that no one knows where I am and that I am hiding,” he said. “But here I am in the open, sitting in a hotel with you. I’m even going to pick up my sister’s kids from school soon.”

Sitting with a friend in the restaurant of a Benghazi hotel, the 41-year-old, sporting a red felt hat and a full salt-and-pepper beard, laughed gently…

…Abu Khattala said that on the night of September 11, he received a phone call telling him that an attack on the U.S. consulate was in progress and that he then went to the scene.

“I arrived at the street parallel to the consulate and waited for other brigade leaders to show me the way to the buildings,” he said. “I arrived at the scene just like the others did — to see what was happening.”