[RealJustme]

A former State Department official has told lawmakers that Hillary Clinton allies privately removed politically damaging documents before turning over files to the supposedly independent board investigating the Benghazi terror attack.

The account from Raymond Maxwell, former head of the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA), was first published in The Daily Signal. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, confirmed to FoxNews.com on Monday that Maxwell told him and other lawmakers the same story when they privately interviewed him last year about the attacks and their aftermath.

Chaffetz said that Maxwell claimed Clinton's chief of staff and deputy chief of staff were overseeing the document operation, which allegedly took place on a weekend in a basement office of the State Department.

"What they were looking for is anything that made them look bad. That's the way it was described to us," Chaffetz said.

According to Chaffetz' account of his interview with Maxwell, as well as the Daily Signal report by Sharyl Attkisson, Maxwell said those scrubbing the documents were looking for information that would cast Clinton and senior leaders in a "bad light."

Chaffetz said such documents were said to be removed, so that Congress and the Accountability Review Board -- the board probing security lapses as well as the attack's aftermath -- would not see them.

Chaffetz described Maxwell's account as "consistent" all this time. The congressman said he is speaking publicly about Maxwell's allegations because Maxwell himself has gone public with them.

According to The Daily Signal report, Maxwell walked in on the weekend session on a Sunday afternoon after hearing about it. He reportedly claims he saw stacks of documents when he arrived as well as an office director who worked for him -- but who hadn't told him about the assignment.

Maxwell reportedly claimed she told him they were instructed to go through the stacks and pull out items that could put anybody in the NEA "front office" or seventh floor -- where the secretary's office is -- in a "bad light."

Maxwell said he "didn't feel good about it" and left a short time later.

Chaffetz said that he was told then-Clinton Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills and Deputy Chief of Staff Jake Sullivan were there and overseeing the operation.

"For Hillary Clinton's personal chief of staff and deputy chief of staff to be making a concerted effort to hide documents, make sure that the Accountability Review Board and Congress did not see those documents is unbelievable and absolutely wrong," Chaffetz said.

Clinton, Sullivan and Mills have all refused to go before Congress to testify under oath concerning the allegations.

It's always the cover up that gets the big fish in the end. Elizabeth Warren said Hillary is in big heap-um trouble.

Carlos

[johnforbes]

They were trying to say this fellow was unreliable, but he is a black person who voted for Obama.

He was subject to some inquiry, but he was restored to service and retired.

But the thing is that security logs will confirm whether there was weekend entry and all this seems quite likely that Hillary (and her chief of staff) were trying very hard to remove any harmful Benghazi info from State Dept files.

Obama's IRS is trusted by NOBODY. They destroyed email and everybody knows it.

The State Dept has two girls, Jen Psaki and Marie Harf, who are the worst spindoctors ever and even liberal reporters don't believe them.

[Intrepid]

This is the Clinton MO. When Vince Foster was suddenly taken dead, Hillary's operatives were seen ransacking and looting Foster's office of armloads of documents in direct violation of the Park Police sealing the office as a possible crime scene. Normal rules do not apply to Her Royal Thighness, The Hildabeast