Petraeus testifies on Benghazi attack

By Tom Curry, NBC News national affairs writer Former CIA Director David Petraeus testified Friday morning before the House Intelligence Committee as Congress seeks to find out why the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi occurred and why greater protection was not provided to the facility. Petraeus will also testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee Friday.  Both sessions were to be held behind closed doors and were not open to the public. As former CIA director David Petraeus heads to Capitol Hill to testify behind closed doors about the Benghazi consulate attack, the CIA announced it is launching an investigation to determine whether he used agency resources to further his relationship with Paula Broadwell. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports. In the attack Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans – Glen Doherty, Tyrone Woods, and Sean Smith – were killed. McCain told NBC's Matt Lauer on Thursday that the most vital question Petraeus must answer when he testifies is "why we were not prepared for this attack, where there was ample evidence – because of previous attacks and overwhelming intelligence information that attacks were very likely on our consulate – there had been two (attacks) previously in April and June. On Aug. 15 they sent back a message that in the case a concerted attack they could not defend the consulate." The investigation into the Benghazi events has become a major focus for members of Congress returning to the Capitol after last week's elections. The episode has political implications not only for President Barack Obama but for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who may run for president in 2016. ISAF via Reuters file Meet the people who have been pulled into the scandal that caused Gen. David Petraeus to resign. Petraeus resigned one week ago after the revelation of his adulterous affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell. On Thursday night, Senate Intelligence Committee chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., previewed Petraeus's testimony before her committee, emphasizing that her panel is focused now on the Benghazi events and not the ex-CIA chief's personal matters. "Director Petraeus went to Tripoli, he interviewed many of the people, as I understand it, that were involved and so the opportunity to get his views I think is very important," she told reporters. At issue in the investigation and the political scrimmaging this week has been the question of why, five days after the attack, the administration dispatched U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice to speak on the Sunday news shows to offer a preliminary explanation of the attack, which she attributed to an anti-Islamic video that was circulated on YouTube. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice recaps the causes and effects of recent violence against Americans in the Middle East. Rice told NBC's David Gregory on Meet the Press Sept. 16 that "putting together the best information that we have available to us today – our current assessment is that what happened in Benghazi was, in fact, initially a spontaneous reaction to what had just transpired hours before in Cairo – almost a copycat of the demonstrations against our facility in Cairo, which were prompted, of course, by the video." She added that in Benghazi "opportunistic extremist elements came to the consulate as this was unfolding. They came with heavy weapons, which, unfortunately, are readily available in post-revolutionary Libya, and that escalated into a much more violent episode." On Thursday the Senate Intelligence Committee was shown a real-time video put together of the entire attack in Benghazi, including drone video. The committee will hold two more closed briefings on Benghazi following the Thanksgiving recess and will hold an open hearing as well. The briefers on Thursday included acting CIA director Michael Morell and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., the senior Republican on the committee, told reporters Thursday night after the hearing that "we know mistakes were made and we've got to learn from that and our membership asked some very hard and very tough questions of our witnesses today and we're going to continue to do that." Larry Downing / Reuters Then U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus talks at an event in the East Room of the White House in this April 28, 2011 file photo. McCain on Wednesday introduced a resolution to create a special eight-member select Senate committee to examine the attack on the consulate. But McCain's proposal got a mostly chilly reception Wednesday from Chambliss and other senators. NBC's Kelly O'Donnell and the Associated Press contributed to this report.