CIA Chief David Petraeus took part in closed hearings with the House and Senate Intelligence Committees today. He testified about the initial descriptions that came from the White House administration following the attacks in Benghazi in September.

In those hearings, Petraeus told members there that he believed from the onset of the attacks that terrorist elements were involved. Petraeus gave a twenty minute opening statement to the House panel followed by seventy minutes of questions. The former CIA Director said at the hearings that classified intelligence pointed to a terrorist attack but that the administration withheld the information in order to avoid tipping off the terrorists that agencies had intercepted electronic information from militants involved in the attack.

Some of the lawmakers in Washington feel that the Obama administration attempted to hide information in an effort to avoid embarrassment prior to the elections.

Some of those lawmakers have focussed on the comments made by Sussan Rice on the Sunday following the attacks when she spoke on news programming that day. There Rice told reporters that the attacks were spontaneous and carried out because of the controversial film depicting Muhommed that was circulating the web at that time.

Democrats at the hearing defended the comments made by Rice saying that she was following CIA-approved unclassified talking points. Petraeus said that Rice did not stray from those talking points.

President Obama has defended Rice and her comments that she made, saying that there was no deliberate attempt to put forth misleading and false information.

Petraeus resigned his position at the CIA following the details of an affair that he had that came to light after harrassing emails were supplied to the FBI. Patraeus said that his resignation had nothing to do with the Benghazi attack. Petraeus apologized for his affair with Paula Broadwell, but his affair was not focussed upon duriing the hearings.

Two additional closed door hearings are scheduled to take place before the unclassified finding will be annnounced in a public hearing.