Hillary Clinton, Helped By Yoga, Sails Through Benghazi Grilling

Washington: Even after 11 hours of grilling, Hillary Clinton kept her composure, fending off a Republican panel accusing her of failing to protect the US diplomat mission in Libya's Benghazi where four Americans including the US Ambassador were killed in 2012. Later, when asked about her endurance, the former Secretary of State quipped, "Yoga always helps."

In the hearing which had a generous share of dramatic moments, one that stood out was Republican Illinois Representative Peter Roskam's act. "No one recommended closing (the Benghazi US Mission), but you had two ambassadors that made several, several requests. And here's basically what happened to their request. They were torn up," he said, ripping a paper in half.

But analysts said Hillary Clinton managed to emerge unscathed, and instead wisely used the hearing as a presidential platform. "I was the boss of ambassadors in 270 countries. I was the boss of ambassadors in places like Afghanistan, where shortly before I visited one time, the embassy had been under brutal assault by the Taliban for hours. I am very well aware of the dangers that are faced by our diplomats and our development professionals. There was never a recommendation from Chris Stevens or anyone else to close Benghazi," she said in a statement that pundits declared made her seem like a leader.

The only roadblocks in Hillary Clinton's journey to the White House could be Benghazi and her email controversy, analysts say. The revelation that she used her personal email server for official mails while she was Secretary of State, has hurt her credibility and her trustworthiness ratings sharply nosedived among voters.

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The Democrats say the probe is politically motivated, by the Republicans who want to jeopardize Hillary Clinton's presidential aspirations, and has wasted 17 months and 4.7 million dollars of taxpayer money.