Timeline of events, comments surrounding Benghazi

Under Secretary of State for Management Pat Kennedy comments on the 16-member site security team of U.S. troops that left Libya in the weeks prior to the attack, despite efforts by its leader to stay longer. Kennedy said, "It provided security to Tripoli, not Benghazi. On a small number of occasions, a couple of SST members would travel to Benghazi for very specific reasons, but they were not part of the long-term security presence in Benghazi."

Oct. 14. Republicans keep up their attack. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., says presidential aides deliberately covered up the details of the attack so that voters wouldn't question Obama's handling of the war on terror.

Oct. 15. Secretary of State Clinton takes responsibility for the attack, saying security at all diplomatic missions is her job, not that of the White House. She says: "I take responsibility. I'm in charge of the State Department's 60,000 people all over the world (at ) 275 posts."

Oct. 16. Libya becomes a major issue in the second presidential debate. It's the first time Obama uses the exact phrase "terrorist attack." The president says that the day after the attack, "I stood in the Rose Garden and I told the American people and the world that we are going to find out exactly what happened. That this was an act of terror and I also said that we're going to hunt down those who committed this crime." Romney countered, "I want to make sure we get that for the record, because it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror."

Obama takes responsibility for the security in Benghazi.

Oct. 17. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., says, "But first of all, responsibility for American security doesn't lie with the secretary of state. It lies with the president of the United States. It's either willful deception or a degree of incompetence and failure to understand fundamental facts on the ground."

Oct. 18. The president says on "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central, "If four Americans get killed, it's not optimal.... We're going to fix it."

Oct. 19. The AP reveals that the CIA's Libya station chief sent a report within 24 hours of the attack that there was evidence that militants were behind the assault, rather than a mob upset about the anti-Islamic video.