Former secretary of State Hillary Clinton is testifying on Thursday before the House Select Committee on Benghazi in what is sure to be one of the most dramatic showdowns since the committee was first formed in May 2014.
Here are 7 things you need to know:
1. So far there have been about eight Congressional investigations into the attack on September 11, 2012, from five House committees and two Senate committees, to the State Department’s own independent Accountability Review Board, all looking into diplomatic security in the wake of the deadly attack on the U.S compound in Benghazi, Libya.
2. As Secretary of State, Clinton testified in January 2013 before the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs committees. Thursday’s testimony is Clinton’s first before the House Benghazi Committee and her first as a presidential candidate.
3. The Select Committee on Benghazi is comprised of seven Republicans and five Democrats and has been in existence for 17 months, longer than the Congressional committee that investigated the Watergate scandal in the 1970s.
4. So far, the House Select Committee has spent about $4.5 million dollars to hire staff, interview the families of the four men killed and obtain documents related to the investigation.
5. This is the first time former Secretary Clinton is testifying since her emails were released. The last time Clinton testified in 2013, the controversy about her use of a private email server had not yet broken.
6. According to the Associated Press, the House Select Committee has interviewed 54 witnesses, including seven new eyewitnesses to the Benghazi attack who were not interviewed earlier.
7. The committee has examined more than 50,000 pages of documents never before seen by Congress, including emails from Ambassador Stevens and top State Department personnel.
Watch a live-stream of the hearing below:
13 Unforgettable Hillary Rodham Clinton Moments: Secretary of State, Candidate and First Lady (Photos)
Photos of then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton checking her email went viral in 2011. When Clinton joined Twitter last month, she chose a shot like this for her profile page, quickly racking up 650,000 followers.
In December 2011 Hillary joyfully greeted Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma. Suu Kyi led the fight against military rule in Burma, where she spent years under house arrest.
Hillary Rodham Clinton made her debut in politics back in 1974 during the Watergate Scandal as a member of the impeachment inquiry staff. She was a recent Yale Law School graduate and not yet married to Bill Clinton.
Hillary Clinton became a lightening rod on the 1992 campaign trail, drawing criticism for remarks that she could have "stayed home and baked cookies and had tea but what I decided to do was fulfill my profession" and that she was not a "some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette."
In 1996, then First Lady HIllary Clinton was put on the cover of Time magazine, with the story depicting the truth about the Whitewater real-estate scandal.
Hillary Clinton delivers a speech on the Monica Lewinsky affair with her husband and former President Bill Clinton standing by her side.
After taking on two ads that she claims misrepresented her stance on healthcare plans, an enraged presidential candidate Hillary Clinton delivers a speech on the shameful tactics used by rival Barack Obama in 2008. "Shame on you, Barack Obama!"
After losing the race for the Democratic candidacy for the 2008 election, Clinton ended her campaign with a memorable speech. "Even though we were not able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it, and the light is shining through like never before."
Alongside President Obama and other senior members of the White House staff, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton watches as the US Naval Seals take down terrorist Osama bin Laden on May 1, 2011.
Hillary Clinton and actress Meryl Streep share a laugh at the 2012 Kennedy Center Honors gala.
After returning to work from hospitalization from a blood clot, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton received joke gifts from her colleagues to celebrate her return. She received a football jersey and helmet.
In January, Clinton delivered a fiery speech to Congress about the Benghazi attacks on U.S. soldiers.
In 2013, Hillary Clinton joined the Human Rights Campaign for same sex marriage. Her support for equal marriage was received as one of her biggest contributions to the campaign upon retiring as Secretary of State in February 2013.
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A look at 10 of former First Lady's biggest moments in the White House, as Secretary of State and as Democractic candidate for president.
Photos of then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton checking her email went viral in 2011. When Clinton joined Twitter last month, she chose a shot like this for her profile page, quickly racking up 650,000 followers.
