State offers $10 million for Benghazi suspects

The State Department announced Friday that it has offered $10 million for information about suspects in last year’s attack in Benghazi, Libya, ending months of speculation about its reluctance to do so.

{mosads}In a letter to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the department said it began offering the reward in January but had kept it quiet due to “security issues and sensitivities surrounding the investigation.”

McCaul and 83 other House members wrote to Kerry last month demanding to know why the department had “failed” to use the Rewards for Justice program to help catch those responsible for the deaths of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans during the Sept. 11, 2012 attack.

“The State Department today confirmed that since January of 2013, the Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program has had a reward offer of up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of any individual involved in the September 11-12, 2012 Benghazi attacks,” the State Department said in an email to reporters after The Associated Press broke the story.

“Due to security issues and sensitivities surrounding the investigation, the event-specific reward offer has not been publicly advertised on the RFJ website.”

Republicans have accused the Obama administration of not doing enough to catch the Benghazi attackers. A State Department official told the AP that investigators have “made it known to individuals that cash is available for those coming forward with actionable information.”

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