A scathing report issued by the Inspector General found that the State Department’s handling of security-related funding under Hillary Clinton left diplomatic posts “more vulnerable to an attack” that could have resulted in “destruction of property, injury, or loss of life.”
If you thought mishandling security requests was isolated to Benghazi, think again.
Here are the top findings:
1. The State Department was not adequately keeping track of the waivers and exemptions that it was granting to excuse diplomatic facilities from having to comply with federally mandated security standards.
2. A “significant number” of State Department officials believed that the process to request security-related funding was “unclear and difficult,” and that this prevented some officials from requesting the funding they needed.
3. Of the $938 million allocated for security upgrades in FY12, State Department records only account for $76 million of that allocation being spent directly on security.
4. The lack of a standard process for making security requests left many requests unanswered, or waiting months for a response. One security official did not receive a response after ten months while other cables and emails went unanswered.
Read the full report by America Rising PAC: IG Report Finds Flaws In Way State Department Tracked Physical Security-Related Requests Before Benghazi