The State Department’s security chief and two others are resigning after an independent review of the U.S. Consulate attacks in Benghazi, Libya blasted “systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies,” in the department, an official told the Associated Press on Wednesday.
The AP reports that Eric Boswell, the assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security, and his deputy Charlene Lamb, who was responsible for embassy security, have resigned. A third unnamed official from the Middle East bureau also stepped down. The resignations came “under pressure,” according to the AP, after the report’s release.
According to CNN, the results of an independent federal investigation, released Tuesday night, found that the State Department is to blame for an “inadequate” security plan for the Consulate in Benghazi, leaving the consulate “grossly inadequate to deal with the attack that took place.” The September 11, 2012 attack killed four Americans, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.
CBS News explains that the report singles out two bureaus at the department: the Near Eastern Affairs bureau and Diplomatic Security. But it didn’t call out specific names of officials.
