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Has US diplomat Gregory Hicks suffered political retaliation for revealing details of the lethal terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, last Sept. 11? That鈥檚 a big question raised by Wednesday鈥檚 House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Mr. Hicks was the deputy chief of mission in the US Embassy in Libya at the time. Yesterday, he gave a gripping account of the day鈥檚 events, from the moment he was alerted that the Benghazi consulate was in danger (he was in Tripoli, watching TV at the time) to the 鈥渟addest phone call I鈥檝e ever had in my life," which informed him that US Ambassador Chris Stevens had died.

But the part of his testimony that has Washington buzzing Thursday deals with allegations that he鈥檚 been punished for speaking out, both publicly and within the State Department bureaucracy.

Hicks described at length a phone call from Cheryl Mills, chief of staff to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Ms. Mills was 鈥渦pset鈥� that he鈥檇 met with House investigators looking into Benghazi after being told he should not, he said. She questioned why a State Department lawyer wasn鈥檛 in that meeting. Hicks said the lawyer didn鈥檛 have the proper security clearance.

Hicks also asked other superiors why Susan Rice, US ambassador to the UN, had said the attack might have been a spontaneous reaction to an anti-Islamic video. That video was a 鈥渘on-event鈥� in Libya, Hicks said, adding that it seemed clear from the first that the assault was a terrorist attack.

鈥淭he sense I got was I needed to stop the line of questioning,鈥� Hicks told the House panel.

Since then, he鈥檚 been demoted, Hicks said. He鈥檇 been told he could expect a 鈥済ood level of assignment鈥� in the wake of his performance in the Libya tragedy. Instead, he鈥檚 been returned to Foggy Bottom and given a desk job as a foreign affairs officer.

鈥� 'Foreign affairs officer鈥� is a designation that is given to our civil service colleagues who 鈥� frankly who are desk officers.... So I鈥檝e been effectively demoted from deputy chief of mission to desk officer,鈥� said Hicks.

This charge jolted the hearing. As Washington Post fact checker Glenn Kessler writes in his roundup of what came out yesterday, Hicks's "description of the internal dynamics 鈥� and reported retaliation for questioning the administration鈥檚 public posture 鈥� is certainly new."

Republicans say that the charge proves Obama officials attempted to downplay the attacks in the immediate aftermath and are now trying to cover up that fact. Hicks has worked for the State Department 22 years, served in Afghanistan and Syria, among other places, and won numerous internal awards, points out conservative commentator Allahpundit on Hot Air!.

鈥淪uddenly, after he started asking questions about Susan Rice, his 鈥榤anagement style鈥� was unacceptable,鈥� he writes. 鈥淗ow does a guy with management deficiencies rise to number two in Libya, one of the most perilous diplomatic posts in the world? Should we start asking State instead to explain why they鈥檙e promoting alleged incompetents?鈥�

The State Department rejects this characterization of events.

鈥淭he Department has not and will not retaliate against Mr. Hicks,鈥� said Patrick Ventrell, acting deputy spokesman for the State Department.

Hicks asked to be reassigned from Libya in the wake of the attack due to understandable family issues, said Mr. Ventrell. But that meant he was out of step with the annual assignment cycle. Finding a suitable post isn鈥檛 always easy under such circumstances, he added.

An anonymous source was harsher. A US diplomat told Foreign Policy鈥檚 Gordon Lubold that Hicks is a 鈥渃lassic case of underachiever who whines when big breaks don鈥檛 come his way."

The fact that after 22 years of service Hicks remains an FS-1 grade, the equivalent of a colonel in the military, shows that he has not exactly been a fast tracker, the source told Mr. Lubold.

More facts about Hicks鈥檚 fate will undoubtedly emerge in the days ahead. But if nothing else, he provided a service with his vivid testimony of what it was like on the ground on a confusing, terrible, and deadly night for US diplomacy, adds Washington Post media blogger Erik Wemple.

鈥淲hatever the impact of Hicks鈥檚 words 鈥� whether they keep this story alive, whether they puncture the political standing of Clinton, whether they cause a Defense Department shakeup, whether they annoy the White House 鈥� they delivered the sort of person, visceral account that the country deserves after its people are killed in a terrorist attack,鈥� Mr. Wemple writes.