One of the authors of the infamous State Department Benghazi talking points is on track for a promotion after passing a key congressional hurdle Tuesday.
Lawmakers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved by voice vote the promotion of Victoria Nuland to serve as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.
Nuland was previously the top spokeswoman at the State Department.
Earlier this month, Nuland was grilled on Capitol Hill by Republicans about her involvement in crafting the department’s talking points during the aftermath of the attacks on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.
Critics say those talking points were used to protect the Obama administration and deflect blame for not preventing the attacks before the November 2012 elections. United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice used those talking points to argue on the Sunday shows that the attacks were not terrorism, but rather the result of a spontaneous uprising.
Some argue Nuland’s role in the Benghazi aftermath should preclude her from taking the job.
“It’s just gross that Toria is being promoted to assistant Secretary of State for Europe, the pinnacle of existence for members of the Foreign Service guild,” Christian Whiton, a State Department adviser during the Bush administration, told The Daily Caller. “She was instrumental in the Benghazi coverup and lied about her role. How this warrants a promotion is anyone’s guess.”
President Barack Obama nominated Nuland to the post in May. According to her biography, she was named spokeswoman at the State Department in May of 2011.