The head of an independent review board that studied the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, said Friday that a top adviser to Hillary Rodham Clinton read a draft of his findings before they were made public and made suggestions that were ultimately accepted for the final version.
The inquiry was led by Thomas Pickering, a former ambassador. His report was critical of the State Department but did not criticize top officials, including Clinton.
Pickering said Friday that the top adviser to Clinton, Cheryl Mills, was among a group of people he had allowed to read the report before it was released.
Most changes she suggested "were in the area of word choices," Pickering said. "Some of the comments we accepted, and some we did not because they were not consistent with our findings."
He added, "This did not constitute an inappropriate intervention or an attempt to change the basic report."
Mills testified under oath Thursday before a House committee investigating the attacks in Libya.
New York Times
