Rep. Darrell Issa, who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, on Sunday during an interview with NBC's 'Meet the Press' defended his past statements on Benghazi in response to a New York Times story. Issa on defense over Benghazi statements

Rep. Darrell Issa, who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, on Sunday defended his past statements on Benghazi in response to a New York Times story that said it had “turned up no evidence that Al Qaeda or other international terrorist groups had any role in the assault.”

“There is a group that was involved that claims an affiliation with Al Qaeda,” the California Republican said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” insisting that he was accurate in his past assertion that Al Qaeda was involved in the attacks.

Issa’s committee has been investigating last year’s assault on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, and the congressman has repeatedly slammed the Obama administration for its handling of the issue.

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On Sunday, “Meet the Press” host David Gregory asked Issa to respond to The Times story, which was published online Saturday. The story also said the Benghazi attacks were “fueled in large part by anger at an American-made video denigrating Islam.”

“We have seen no evidence that the video was widely seen in Benghazi,” Issa said Sunday. “People from this administration … have said under oath there was no evidence of any reaction to a video.

“What we know, David, is the initial reports did not name this video as the prime cause,” he added.

Issa also commended The Times for doing “some very good work” in its reporting on the issue.