Benghazi victim’s mother to attend final presidential debate

The Clairemont mother of a victim in the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, said she will attend the final presidential debate Wednesday evening at the invitation of Republican nominee Donald Trump’s camp.

Patricia Smith’s son, native San Diegan and State Department information officer Sean Smith, was one of four Americans killed in the terrorist assault on the U.S. diplomatic compound and a nearby CIA annex in Benghazi.

She has repeatedly said the Obama administration has failed to give clear and sufficient information about its alleged missteps related to the tragedy. She also has singled out Hillary Clinton, secretary of state at the time and now the Democratic nominee for president, for the greatest blame. Smith has aired her criticism on talk radio, in TV and newspaper interviews, and during a nationally televised speech from the Republican National Convention in July.

Officials from Trump’s campaign called Smith on Monday and arranged for her to fly to Las Vegas at their expense for Wednesday’s debate, she said. Smith will be picked up at the airport, escorted to the University of Nevada Las Vegas for the event and then interviewed afterward by conservative broadcaster Sean Hannity, she added.

“I have never met Donald Trump and I don’t know if I’m supposed to meet him at the debate. All I care is that whenever people give me the opportunity to speak out for my son, to be his voice, I will take it,” Smith said Tuesday night. “I will keep calling out for justice from the government. I won’t give up.”

hieu.phan@sduniontribune.com