White House contender Hillary Clinton has denied misleading the public about the deaths of four Americans in Libya, during a heated congressional hearing.
Members of the select committee sought to blame her for security lapses at the diplomatic compound in Benghazi during the attack on 11 September, 2012, while she was Secretary of State.
Ohio Republican Jim Jordan suggested Mrs Clinton tried initially to cover up that terrorists had attacked the outpost as she wanted to portray Libya as a success story for her State Department.
But Mrs Clinton said she was only trying to make sense of confusing intelligence reports in the aftermath of the attack that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other US citizens.
She told the Republican-led panel it was "a very personally painful accusation" that she had misled the public.
Mrs Clinton said it's clear the US outpost wasn't provided with all the security it requested.
But she argued the type of attack that took place would have been difficult to repel.
Mrs Clinton said she never saw repeated requests by the ambassador and others for a security upgrade, an assertion cross-examination by the panel.
Committee chairman Trey Gowdy said the inquiry was about the death of four Americans, not about her.
"Why were there so many requests for security equipment and personnel and why were those requests denied in Washington?" the former federal prosecutor asked.
But Elijah Cummings, one of the panel's five Democrats, growled that the investigation was nothing more than "an abusive effort to derail Secretary Clinton's presidential campaign".
Mrs Clinton nodded as he cited recent comments by Republican lawmakers as evidence that the Benghazi inquiry was a "taxpayer-funded fishing expedition".
The hearing later degenerated into a shouting match between Mr Gowdy and Mr Cummings over how much information should be made public, as a bemused Mrs Clinton looked on.
Illinois Republican Peter Roskam told Mrs Clinton she was "chief architect" of the Obama administration's policy in Libya, which he said was now "a disaster".
But Mrs Clinton said the 2011 military campaign to topple Muammar Gaddafi had helped prevent "genocide".
Alabama Republican Martha Roby pointed out a 2012 report by a government accountability board had found US security in Benghazi was "grossly inadequate".
Mrs Clinton last testified on Capitol Hill about Benghazi in January 2013 when she accepted responsibility for the security lapses, but rejected blame.
Patricia Smith, whose son Sean Smith was one of those killed in the attack, told Sky News Mrs Clinton is "a boldfaced liar".
