Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., separated from his Senate allies John McCain and Lindsey Graham on Sunday, saying he did not think a special committee was needed to investigate the terrorist attack in Libya that killed four Americans.
This week, the two leading Republican foreign policy voices said they wanted to launch a Watergate-style, special select committee to investigate the attack on Sept. 11. But on Sunday, Lieberman, who had frequently joined the two senators on foreign trips, said it was not necessary.
“I respectfully separate from my two amigos on this one,” he said on Fox News Sunday. “This was a tragedy, but doesn't rise to the level of 9/11/01. Our committees can handle this and come up with the answers, and if for some reason our colleagues think when we're done we haven't done a good job, think about a special committee.”
Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, also disagreed with a need for a special committee.
“The committees within the United States Senate are capable of investigating this in the right way and this is one time I have a slight disagreement with my good friends,” he said on Fox.
McCain and Graham were joined by Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., this week in calling for the committee, which would look similar to committees that were created after Watergate or the Iran Contra affair.
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