Fox News reported several officials at the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency have obtained attorneys or are in the process of retaining legal counsel to prepare for providing sensitive information about the Benghazi attacks to Congress. The situation shows how life changes for individuals to something that may never have been imagined when a person enters government service. The officials worked for the government for a long time, and this may be a moment of emotional distress as they each deal with financial worries from legal expenses and the need to use the truth to set them free from investigation.
Victoria Toensing, a former Justice Department official, represents one of the State Department employees. She used to be Republican counsel to the Senate Intelligence Committee. She is a partner with her husband, Joseph DiGenova, in the Washington law firm DiGenova and Toensing. Her legal practice focuses on white-collar criminal defense and legislative advocacy.
Toensing has become famous for being a legal commentator on television networks such as CNN and MSNBC. She did not let Fox News know the name of her client, but she reported to Fox News that the client has received threats. The client was involved in the Benghazi attacks situation. She reports that several individuals who see themselves as whistle-blowers have received threats from unnamed Obama administration officials. Sometimes people who intend to do good end up being scrutinized.
According to Fox News: “I’m not talking generally, I’m talking specifically about Benghazi – that people have been threatened,” reported Toensing in an interview in late April 2013.
The well-known lawyer would not give information on the client, but she said the individual was on the ground in Benghazi on the evening of September 11, 2012. This was the date when there were terrorist attacks on two United States installations in Libya. The attacks killed four people from the United States. One of those killed was Chris Stevens, a United States Ambassador.
Toensing let the public know her client has information on three time periods investigators believe are important to the attacks. The three periods are: (1) the months that led up to the fighting, (2) the eight-hours in which the attacks took place, and (3) the eight-day period after the attacks.
In the eight-day period following the attacks, the Obama administration officials did not properly describe the attacks. They discussed the attacks at the time as stemming from a spontaneous objection to a video. In the months that led to the attack, there was begging by the ambassador for more security in Benghazi. The requests for security were rejected by senior officers at the State Department.
According to Fox News: “It’s frightening, and they’re doing some very despicable threats to people,” Toensing said.