WASHINGTON, D.C. - Sen. Rand Paul today issued the following statement regarding new information pertaining to reports that an Aug. 16 cable requesting protection signed by Ambassador Chris Stevens and sent to the State Department may have been denied by Secretary Hillary Clinton.

In his latest column, Patrick J. Buchanan outlines a timeline of events that indicate Obama administration officials may have denied protection requests in Benghazi. He wrote:

"On Aug. 15, at the U.S. compound in Benghazi, an emergency meeting was convened to discuss the 10 Islamist militias and their training camps in the area, among them al-Qaida and Ansar al-Sharia.

"On Aug. 16, a cable went to the State Department describing the imminent danger, saying the compound could not defend itself against a "coordinated attack."

"The cable was sent to Hillary Clinton - and signed by Ambassador Chris Stevens.

"On Sept. 11, Ambassador Stevens died in a coordinated attack on the Benghazi compound by elements of Ansar al-Sharia and al-Qaida."

Sen. Paul offered the following statement in adjunct with the information being reported:

"Administration officials, including Vice President Joe Biden, have repeatedly told us that more security was never requested in Libya. If this is false, and security was requested-and was denied-Administration officials must answer for this gross intelligence and security failure.

"If Ambassador Stevens signed a security request that was sent to Secretary Clinton, who subsequently denied that request, Secretary Clinton must answer these charges.

"The failure to protect our diplomats is an outrage and those who made bad decisions should either be fired or have their ability to make such decisions taken away from them. Someone must answer for the tragedy in Benghazi.

"The President has told us 'the buck stops here.' It's time for him to prove it."