An administration official says the chief of the State Department's security service, one of his deputies and an official from the agency's Middle East bureau have resigned after a damning report that found systematic management failures responsible for a lack of security at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.
The official said Eric Boswell, the assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security, and Charlene Lamb, the deputy assistant secretary responsible for embassy security, stepped down under pressure after the release of the report. The third official worked for the Bureau of Near East Affairs, but wasn't immediately identified, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss personnel matters publicly.
The report said poor leadership in both bureaus left the Benghazi mission underprotected.
Meanwhile, lawmakers from both parties are expressing frustration with the findings of a panel that blamed failures in State Department leadership for security lapses at a U.S. consulate in Libya. Four people, including the U.S. ambassador, were killed in an attack on the consulate in September.
Members of the House and Senate have been briefed today by leaders of the independent panel.
Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin says it's clear that "there was a failure" in managing security at the consulate in Benghazi.
Republican Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming says it seems that "the State Department clearly failed the Boy Scout motto of `Be Prepared."' He says there wasn't good enough security ahead of time -- and that once the attack took place, the security was "woefully inadequate."
The Republican who heads the House intelligence committee, Mike Rogers of Michigan, says the report revealed what he calls a "massive failure of the State Department at all levels" to protect U.S. employees. And he says no one is being held accountable.
But later, there was word that three State Department officials have resigned under pressure, including the assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security.
