The motion in Washington's federal court does not detail the newly disclosed evidence but says it concerns a key government witness who testified under the pseudonym Ali Majrisi at Khattala's 2017 trial. Khattala was captured in 2014 and put on trial for an attack that became a divisive political flashpoint during the tenure of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. A jury convicted Khattala of multiple terrorism-related charges but found him not guilty of murder. Prosecutors accused Khattala of heading an extremist militia and directing the attack but acknowledged that they lacked evidence of him firing any weapons. The motion for a new trial comes just before the three-year anniversary of the guilty verdict, the deadline under federal rules of criminal procedure for such a request.

NEW YORK, N.Y. – A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a Libyan militant to more than 19 years in prison for his role in the 2012 Benghazi attacks that killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador. The attacks, aimed at killing American personnel, prompted a political fracas in which Republicans accused the Obama administration of a bungled response. Al-Imam was sentenced to a total of 236 months behind bars. He is the second militant convicted in the attacks that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens, communications specialist Sean Smith and security officers Tyrone Snowden Woods and Glen Anthony Doherty. But they said he aligned himself with Khattala and acted as his “eyes and ears” at the height of the attacks.