When a U.S. Consulate building known as "the Annex" in Benghazi, Libya, was attacked on September 11, 2012, killing four Americans including Ambassador Christopher Stevens there were dozens of Central Intelligence Agency operatives on the ground and the CIA is doing everything they can to keep the reason for their presence a secret, according to CNN.
Republicans have been skeptical about the way the Obama administration reacted in the aftermath of the attack going as far as to say that it was a cover-up. The main accusation was that the Obama administration downplayed the terrorist attack to avoid taking a political hit so close to the election.
CNN's sources confirm that there may have been a cover-up but for completely different reasons. The CIA is conducting what a source called "an unprecedented attempt to keep the spy agency's Benghazi secrets from ever leaking out."
CIA operatives connected to the operations in Libya have been given polygraph tests in order to make sure they have not leaked any information. The polygraphs have been administered frequently, possibly as often as every month, according to CNN.
"Agency employees typically are polygraphed every three to four years. Never more than that," Robert Baer, a former CIA operative, told CNN. "If somebody is being polygraphed every month, or every two months, it's called an issue polygraph, and that means that the polygraph division suspects something or they're looking for something, or they're on a fishing expedition. But it's absolutely not routine at all to be polygraphed monthly, or bi-monthly."
At least five CIA employees were coerced into signing nondisclosure agreements after Benghazi. Signing a nondisclosure agreement is commonplace in the CIA, the employees would have signed one prior to heading to Libya as well, it is unusual for them to have to sign an additional one. It's more than likely a sign that the agency was attempting to get the employees to stay quiet after the disaster, according to Fox News.
A spokesman for the CIA, Dean Boyd, issued a statement on Friday denying that the CIA is doing anything to keep employees quiet.
"CIA employees are always free to speak to Congress if they want to and there is an established process to facilitate such communication on a confidential basis. The CIA enabled all officers involved in Benghazi the opportunity to meet with Congress," Boyd said. "We are not aware of any CIA employee who has experienced retaliation, including any non-routine security procedures, or who has been prevented from sharing a concern with Congress about the Benghazi incident."
Some in Congress think that too much effort has been spent trying to figure out if there was cover-up and not nearly enough attention to bringing those responsible for the attack to justice. A group of lawmakers wrote a letter to FBI Director James Comey expressing these concerns, according to Fox News.
"It has been more than 10 months since the attacks. We appear to be no closer to knowing who was responsible today than we were in the early weeks following the attack," the letter said. "This is simply unacceptable."
Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., has been trying to get the House to form a committee to look into the possible cover-up to no avail for months. Wolf claims that shortly after the attack he had been contacted by people connected to Benghazi who wanted to talk to Congress. Then, suddenly, they were no longer interested in talking, according to CNN.
"Initially they were not afraid to come forward," Wolf said. "They wanted the opportunity, and they wanted to be subpoenaed, because if you're subpoenaed, it sort of protects you, you're forced to come before Congress. Now that's all changed."
