Clinton aide Abedin to testify at Benghazi panel

Longtime Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin is scheduled to testify before the House committee investigating the 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya, in the coming weeks.

Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) told reporters on Thursday that Abedin would appear before a closed-door meeting of the committee at some point before Clinton’s public testimony on Oct. 22.

{mosads}Abedin serves a top role in Clinton’s front-running 2016 presidential campaign and was her deputy chief of staff during Clinton’s time as secretary of State. Abedin is also the wife of former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.).

The news about her appearance came after another former State Department official, Bryan Pagliano, briefly appeared before the committee, where he invoked his constitutional right against self-incrimination.

Pagliano — a former IT official who assisted in setting up Clinton’s personal email server — was brought in to plead the Fifth in person despite the protests of Democrats on the panel. He had previously turned down an offer to give a “preview” interview to Senate lawmakers before striking a deal granting him immunity.

“If Chairman Gowdy actually wanted to find out what Mr. Pagliano knows, he would follow the lead of Senate Republicans and consider immunity — something Democrats would support,” Rep. Elijah Cummings (Md.), the panel’s top Democrat, said in a statement. “The chairman has already publicly rejected that idea, so today’s event is pure political theater.”