Sidney Blumenthal, a close ally and informal adviser to Hillary Clinton, is scheduled to testify before the House Select Committee on Benghazi on June 16.
The panel announced on Friday that Blumenthal would appear in a closed-door deposition, not a public hearing like the one the committee will hold with Clinton, which is expected sometime later this summer.
Committee Chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-South Carolina, sent a subpoena to Blumenthal last month after a series of 2012 emails were released that revealed he shared information with Clinton related to the 2012 attacks on the U.S. mission in Benghazi that killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens. Congressional Republicans have launched multiple probes of the Obama administration’s response to the security threats in Libya.
Blumenthal, who served as an aide to President Bill Clinton during his presidency, said through his attorney he would cooperate with the committee’s investigation. He had business dealings with Libya around the time he was corresponding with Hillary Clinton, but stressed he was corresponding with her as “a private citizen and a friend.”
Republicans say Blumenthal’s emails, sent to Clinton’s private email address, raise questions about Blumenthal’s business arrangements with the State Department, since he was not an employee.
Clinton has also agreed to appear before the panel as early as this month. But Gowdy has emphasized that he wants to get all the of the documents he requested from the State Department before scheduling any hearing with Clinton, who is traveling the country seeking the Democratic presidential nomination.
