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Your very welcome. :-)

One more part of hearing testimony about the stand-down orders ....(and Hillary’s call to Hicks.and Obama’s call to Hicks).
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ISSA: I thank the gentleman.

We now go to the gentleman from Florida, Mr. Desantis.

DESANTIS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I think this is an important hearing. It really does make all the difference to me to know whether we did all we could to aid our brethren who are in harm’s way. I think it’s part of our military ethos. I think it’s part of our national character.

Mr. Hicks, I just — just to go back and get this — you know, even though you believed help was needed, there was a soft unit — special operations unit ordered to stand down, correct?

HICKS: Yes.

DESANTIS: And even though you thought air support was needed, there was no air support sent?

HICKS: No air support was sent.

DESANTIS: So, no A.C. 130 gun ships, no fighter planes, right?

HICKS: A.C. 130 gun ships were never mentioned to me. Only fighter planes out of Aviano.

DESANTIS: And, in fact, there was no request for air space other than the UAV request to the Libyan government, right?.

HICKS: Yes, and that preceded the attack, if I’m not mistaken.

DESANTIS: So, when the order to stand down was given, who issued that order? Were you told? Did Lieutenant Colonel Gibson tell you who was ultimately responsible for issuing that order?

HICKS: He did not identify the person.

DESANTIS: OK, so you don’t know if it was the combatant commander?

HICKS: I — I do not know.

DESANTIS: Or whether it was the secretary of Defense or the president, correct?

HICKS: I have no idea.

DESANTIS: And have you, since this incident has happened and you’ve been interviewed, have you been enlightened as to who was ultimately responsible for issuing the stand down order?

HICKS: I think you — that the right person to pose that question to is Lieutenant Colonel Gibson.

DESANTIS: When you spoke with Secretary Clinton at 2:00 A.M., did she express support for giving military assistance to those folks in Benghazi? I.e., did she say that she would request such support from either the secretary of Defense or the president of the United States?

HICKS: We actually didn’t discuss that issue. At the time, we were focused on trying to find, and hopefully rescue, Ambassador Stephens. That was the primary purpose of our discussion. The secondary purpose was to talk about what we were going to do in Tripoli in order to enhance our security there.

DESANTIS: So as part of that discussion, though, you informed her that you guys in Benghazi were, in fact, under attack, correct?

HICKS: The attack in Benghazi — she was aware of the attacks, but were in phase three. The attacks had already — the first two attacks had been completed, it was a — and there was a lull in Benghazi at the time.

So — and again, the focus was on finding Ambassador Stephens, and what the second — or the Tripoli response team was going to do.

We had at that time no expectation that there would be subsequent attacks at — at our annex in Benghazi.

DESANTIS: So you — it was under your — you viewed it as secured at that point?

HICKS: No, we knew the situation was in flux.

DESANTIS: OK.

When you spoke to the president following the attack on the phone, did he say anything about deploying assets, whether — why assets were not deployed?

HICKS: I believe I spoke to him on September 17th or September 18th, so...

DESANTIS: Right, after the attack. I know this was several days later.

Did he say anything, or was it just to commend you about your service?

HICKS: It was just a call to thank me for service...

DESANTIS: OK.

Well...

HICKS: ... and praise the whole team.

DESANTIS: I appreciate that. I think that this has been a good hearing. I think that there are still questions remaining. I think we need to know who actually gave the order to stand down. I’d like to know why you’ve been demoted, why they — the secretary’s chief of staff called you and spoke to you the way she did.

And so with that, I’ll yield...

ISSA: Would the gentleman yield to...

DESANTIS: The Chairman? Thank you, committee chairman.

ISSA: Always the right answer, thank you.

Mr. Hicks, 2:00 in the morning, the secretary of state calls you personally. Not a common call.

HICKS: No, sir.

ISSA: Did she ask you about the cause of the attack? Did she ask you about the cause of the attack? Did she ask about videos? Did she ask about anything at all that would have allowed you to answer the question of how Benghazi came to be attacked, as far as you knew?

HICKS: I don’t recall that being part of the conversation.

ISSA: So she wasn’t interested in the cause of the attack, and this was the only time you talked directly to the secretary, where you could have told her or not told her about the cause of the attack?

HICKS: It was the — yes, that was the only time when I could have. But again, I had already reported that the attack was — had commenced and that twitter feeds were asserting that Ansar Sharia was responsible for the attack.

ISSA: You didn’t have that discussion with her only because it was assumed that, since you had already reported that the cause of the attack was essentially Islamic extremists, some of them linked to al- Qaida?

HICKS: Yes.

ISSA: Thank you. I thank the gentleman.

DESANTIS (?): OK. The gentleman — does the gentleman yield back?

The gentleman yields back.

We now probably go to a second round, starting with Mr. Jordan.