Lawmakers apparently learned a lot, but not the public. What fighter aircraft were available to go to Benghazi, either from a U.S. base in Sicily or elsewhere? It’s classified. What other planes? Classified. What about drones, especially armed ones, in addition to the unarmed aircraft the Pentagon has said was sent to the site shortly after the attack began? That’s classified, too.

What about the precise movements and locations of those American emergency response teams? Classified. Navy ships? Classified. What about the role that fear of inflicting civilian casualties on the ground in Libya might have played in decision-making? Classified.

It’s all under wraps, at least for now. McKeon’s committee has had classified sessions before, going back to a hearing held not long after the attack. There have been other classified briefings, as well. Whatever answers the chairman has gotten remain secret.