House Benghazi Committee Chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy walks on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6. | AP Photo Gowdy fires back at Pentagon over Benghazi testimony

In response to sharp criticism from a top military official, House Benghazi Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy says the Pentagon has changed key details in its timeline of the Benghazi attacks and also acknowledged that previous information presented to Congress about military readiness posturing was “incomplete.”

The South Carolina Republican sent a letter to the Department of Defense after the Pentagon criticized the panel last Friday for asking to interview more witnesses. Gowdy said it is essential for his committee to talk to military members on the ground that night, something the Pentagon is resisting — “particularly after the shifting nature of information they’d received.”


“Aside from concerns about the Department presenting inaccurate information to Congress, there is simply no investigatory rationale for failing to verify information with individuals who actually have knowledge, expertise, and first-hand information,” Gowdy wrote in the letter. “It is for this very reason the Committee must speak with all relevant witnesses and not simply rely on Department assertions, summaries, briefings and other information.”

Assistant Secretary of Defense Stephen Hedger complained in a letter to the committee last Thursday about its continued demands for information and witness requests. He said those inquiries were draining resources, as well as unnecessary and encouraged the panel to stick with interviews with top commanders.

In his response, Gowdy skipped over Hedger on Friday, writing back to Defense Secretary Ash Carter to complain that he felt the letter was partisan. Earlier this week he told POLITICO he thought the letter was “written to be leaked.”

“If you really have an issue with being asked hypothetical questions, all you have to do is ask me,” Gowdy said, adding that he had no idea who Hedger is since he’s never worked with him. “I’ve never had a conversation with this alleged congressional liaison. So I don’t know who the hell he is ‘congressionally liaison-ing’ with.”

Gowdy in the letter said during the course of their probe “the Department of Defense changed its own unclassified timeline regarding the response to the Benghazi attacks.” And Pentagon representatives “informed the Committee the map it previously provided the Committee showing where forces in the region were postured on September 11, 2012 was incomplete.”

“This shift in the Department’s position has important ramifications in understanding how the Department responded to the terrorist attacks in Benghazi on September 11-12, 2012,” he said.

Gowdy says this makes it essential for him to hear testimony from the military members the panel has asked to speak with, which include drone operators and pilots who were based overseas and operating equipment over Libya that night.

“I would rather risk interviewing a witness in good faith, who ultimately produces little probative information than risk not interviewing one who does,” the letter reads. “The failure to pursue leads does the Department, the public and Congress no favor.”

Panel Democrats said Republicans are misconstruing facts.

“It’s difficult to count how many times one Republican press release can mischaracterize the facts" they said in a statement. "It seems crystal clear from the Department of Defense’s letter that they are tired of getting jerked around by Select Committee Republicans while trying to fulfill their primary mission of protecting our nation. Select Committee Republicans should stop blaming everyone else for their own failings and put an end to this wasteful charade of an investigation.”