Benghazi attack timeline notes quick response

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Esam Omran Al-fetori / ReutersThe U.S. consulate in Benghazi is seen in flames on Sept. 11.By Catherine Chomiak and Andrea Mitchell, NBC NewsWASHINGTON -- A senior intelligence official has issued a new timeline for the events surrounding the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, indicating a series of tragic miscalculations that left CIA officers exposed at an annex near the consulate -- but no evidence of interference from Washington or of the CIA witholding aid from the State Department, as Republican critics have alleged.

Follow @NBCNewsWorld According to the timeline, CIA officials in Libya sent a security team to the consulate within 25 minutes of the report of the attack, and the U.S. military sent an unarmed drone to provide intelligence information.

Four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, information management officer Sean Smith and security personnel Tyrone Woods  and Glen Doherty, were killed in the attack Sept. 11-12.

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