Secretary of State Hillary Clinton didn't hold back her emotions while she testified before Congress concerning the occurrence of events that lead to the deaths of four U.S. diplomats, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens in Benghazi back in September. She repeatedly took personal responsibility for failing to prevent the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S. embassy while taking questions during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. However, she defended her course of action and her staff in the days after the attack.
At one point during the Senate hearing, Clinton teared up while talking about the emotional toil she felt watching the four diplomats be laid to rest.
"I stood next to President Obama as the Marines carried those flag-draped caskets off the plane at Andrews. I put my arms around the mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters and the wives left alone to raise their children," she told the packed hearing.
However, tempers flared when Republican Senator Ron Johnson accused Clinton of misleading the American people into believing that the attack was incited by an American anti-Muslim film and Islamic demonstration. Clinton shot back at Johnson with fiery passion denying that she and U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice were lying about the attacks.
"We were misled that there were supposedly protests and something sprang out of that, an assault sprang out of that," said Johnson.
In response, Clinton said, "With all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans. Was it because of a protest? Or was it because of guys out for a walk one night decided they would go kill some Americans? What difference, at this point, does it make? It is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again, Senator."
Tensions also flared when she was interrogated by Sen. Rand Paul who candidly told the Sec. of State that he would have fired her if he were Commander-in-Chief.
"Had I been president and found you did not read the cables from Benghazi and from Ambassador Stevens, I would have relieved you of your post," Paul said. "I think it's inexcusable."
Watch video clips of the hearing above.