Hillary Clinton 'took responsibility' for 2012 Benghazi consulate attack

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has told a Congressional committee she took responsibility after a deadly 2012 attack on a US consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

“I took responsibility and as part of that, before I left office I launched reforms to better protect our people in the field and help reduce the chance of another tragedy happening in the future,” she told the panel.

As Secretary, Hillary implemented reforms to protect diplomats and help prevent future attacks. #BenghaziCommitteehttps://t.co/PbkQZVlxLI

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 22, 2015

However, she added that it is impossible to prevent all terrorist attacks and warned US diplomats must inherently work in unstable and dangerous areas around the world.

The Democratic presidential contender is testifying in front of a Republican-heavy panel (seven Republicans to five Democrats). Her party is labelling the process a witch-hunt aimed at harming her leadership bid.

Benghazi committee fights among itself as Hillary Clinton enjoys the show https://t.co/OfUrLqkQXXpic.twitter.com/xlK0CoYgix

— Huffington Post (@HuffingtonPost) October 22, 2015

Democrats on the committee say there is little left to discover about the Benghazi attack that several previous inquiries did not already unearth.

Months of controversy preceded her appearance after it was revealed that Clinton had used a private home email server for her State Department work. The revelation surfaced, in part, because the Benghazi committee asked to see her official records in 2014.

Today’s hearing with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continues to be streamed live: https://t.co/0zPdCCvbL9#BenghaziAnswers

— Benghazi Committee (@HouseBenghazi) October 22, 2015