Critics are accusing President Barack Obama of ducking questions during a satellite interview Friday afternoon with 9News, in which the TV station pressed him on the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
Asked twice whether the military denied requests for help from the besieged consulate Sept. 11, Obama told 9News reporter Kyle Clark that he was waiting on a thorough investigation.
"We're going to gather all the facts, find out exactly what happened and make sure it doesn't happen again, but we're also going to bring to justice those who carried out these attacks," Obama told Clark.
"And is it fair to tell Americans that what happened is under investigation and we'll all find out after the election?" Clark asked.
Obama answered, "The election has nothing to do with four brave Americans getting killed and us wanting to find out exactly what happened. Nobody wants to find out more what happened than I do."
The 9News report stressed that the president didn't directly address Clark's questions about the attack, which resulted in the deaths of U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three others.
"As the president said, we are going to wait for all the facts to be gathered so we can figure out precisely what happened and make sure it never happens again," Obama campaign spokeswoman Kim Parker said, "but neither the president nor anyone in the White House denied any requests for assistance in Benghazi during the attack."
Clark's questions came as Fox News reported it had learned that security officers working for the CIA at an annex a mile from the consulate were told to "stand down" after they heard about the attack and asked their superiors whether they could help. Some ignored orders and went to the consulate, Fox News reported.
CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Youngblood told The Associated Press that the CIA acted quickly to help colleagues that night.
"No one at any level in the CIA told anybody not to help those in need," Youngblood said. "Claims to the contrary are simply inaccurate."
Fox News also reported that U.S. officials refused requests for U.S. warplanes to bomb the consulate's attackers — a violation of Libyan airspace.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Pentagon reporters Thursday it would have been irresponsible to launch a military attack without better real-time information about the situation. The attack was over before they knew what was happening.
"There remain many unanswered questions regarding the Obama administration's response to the terrorist attack in Libya," said Romney Colorado campaign spokeswoman Alison Hawkins. "This is a serious issue, and the American people deserve serious answers to the questions that have been raised."