Obama's Europe envoy to face Benghazi questions

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's choice as chief U.S. envoy for Europe faces the Senate Thursday in a confirmation hearing that could go far beyond issues of trans-Atlantic diplomacy to questions about the administration's handling of the Benghazi attack and its plan to arm Syria's rebels.

Rarely is a potential assistant secretary of state expected to expound on such politically sensitive policy issues.

And while no one disputes Victoria Nuland's credentials, her prominence as spokeswoman and adviser to secretaries of state Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Kerry placed her in the middle of some of Obama's biggest foreign policy challenges recently, including last year's attack in Libya, which killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans.

"There are still some things that need to be known," said Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican who told Clinton earlier this year he would have fired her after Benghazi. Paul told The Associated Press he hoped to learn at the confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee whether weapons used in the Sept. 11 Benghazi attack had any connection to U.S. intelligence operations in Libya or Syria.

Nuland, he said, "was Hillary Clinton's spokeswoman and I'm guessing she was in the room for a lot of conversations."

The questions Nuland faces could foreshadow some of the issues Clintons will have to address should she decide to run for president in 2016.

As a Russia expert, Nuland also probably will be called on to give her view of Moscow's continued protection of American secrets leaker Edward Snowden and the overall trajectory of the "reset" in U.S.-Russian relations under Obama. That effort has stumbled over many issues, including Syria's civil war and a Kremlin crackdown on pro-democracy organizations.

Benghazi presents greater unpredictability.

Leading Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham have come out in favor of Nuland despite accusations by some in their party that she helped State Department superiors water down the now-infamous talking points used by the administration to inform Americans about the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission.

"There are many questions still unanswered," McCain told reporters Wednesday. He said he saw nothing wrong with how Nuland acted but he still wants the administration to provide more information about those who survived the attack and those who ultimately signed off on the talking points.

It's unclear whether everyone shares that view.

Sen. Bob Corker, the senior Republican on the committee, said he wouldn't raise the issue Thursday.

But Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican, who had a heated exchange with Clinton at her final Senate hearing in January, said only some of his Benghazi concerns were allayed in private discussions with Nuland. "We'll see what happens at the hearing," he said.

Republicans have focused on the administration's talking points since they were used by Susan Rice, then Obama's U.N. ambassador and now his national security adviser, for her public explanation five days after the attack. Rice blamed it on extremists hijacking a spontaneous protest against an anti-Islam video.

As officials rescinded that account, some Republicans accused the administration of trying to mislead the country about an act of terrorism in the heat of a presidential campaign. Ten months later, congressional investigations continue.

As the talking points were being edited, Nuland insisted on removing a reference to a CIA warning about the potential for anti-American demonstrations in Cairo and jihadists trying to break into that embassy. In emails released by the administration, she warned that such wording "could be abused" by lawmakers to criticize her department. She specifically cited the concerns of her "building's leadership."

Few accuse the three-decade-long foreign service officer — a one-time adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney and a former NATO ambassador — of instigating any sort of cover-up. But with Clinton weighing a possible run at the presidency in 2016, some Republicans want to hear more about why the points were edited and at whose insistence.

Rep. Darrell Issa, the Republican, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, in May subpoenaed all Benghazi-related correspondence from Nuland and several other State Department officials.

The State Department strongly endorsed Nuland's nomination.

Kerry's spokeswoman, Jen Pskai said, he "has been impressed with not only her extensive career as a foreign service officer, but with her superior level of talent, intellect and commitment to working on behalf of the United States."

A group of more than two dozen former Cabinet members, senators, ambassadors and senior officials in Republican and Democratic organizations also voiced support for Nuland, calling her one of the nation's "most outstanding career diplomats."

Libya isn't the only possible flashpoint for the hearing.

Nuland was Clinton's spokeswoman when she and former CIA Director David Petraeus lobbied Obama to send weapons to vetted, moderate units of the Syrian opposition.

A year later, administration officials say the president has approved such military assistance but the operation's details are still being worked out. Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces, backed by Russia, Iran and the militant group Hezbollah, have made considerable gains on the battlefield and firmed up their grip over much of the country.

Many in the Senate, Democrats and Republicans alike, believe the administration has acted too slowly on Syria.