So, the Benghazi select committee wanted Obama to answer questions. He refused the request citing separation of powers.

Gowdy on June 7 sent more than a dozen questions seeking more detail on various questions about Benghazi. He wanted to know, for example, if Obama ever authorized covert actions to provide weapons to Libyan rebels; if the president had ever personally viewed the surveillance footage of the attack; when Obama learned of the identities of terrorists involved that day; and whether he was aware of “any efforts by White House and Department of Defense official during [the attack] to reach out to YouTube and Terry Jones regarding an anti-Muslim video?”

Gowdy never got a response. Eggleston instead sharply criticized the panel’s motives for sending the inquiry.

“Your decision to send this letter raises serious questions about the legitimacy of your purported investigatory interests,” Eggleston wrote. “I told you that I would advise the President not to respond to your questions. … Your decision to send your list of questions after receiving information that answered several of them, and knowing I would advise the president not to answer, raises questions about your motives.”

…

Eggleston in the letter says his staff “engaged in good faith with yours to understand what information your committee sought from the president” and that he sent a letter providing information about the president’s activities the night of the attack, referring to the May 11 White House missive.

The panel says the questions from June 7 weren’t a repeat. For example, the committee asked Obama when he first learned of the attack. Eggleston had responded that he was briefed about 5 p.m. But the panel says that was a previously scheduled meeting about an unrelated topic, and the panel says the reply doesn’t answer the question about when Obama first became aware of the attack, which started at 3:42 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Read more: politico.com