Senators say Petraeus will eventually testify on Libya

Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and other senators from both parties said on Sunday that they expect former CIA Director David Petraeus to testify eventually in hearings surrounding September's terrorist attack in Libya.

Though Petraeus is not expected to testify at the committee's closed-door hearing next week, Chambliss said on ABC’s This Week that Petraeus’s testimony will likely happen later. “He's trying to put his life back together right now and that's what he needs to focus on,” Chambliss said.

Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Senator Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat who chairs the committee, also said Petraeus would likely testify eventually.

Speaking on CBS's Face the Nation, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who has been among Republican senators loudly urging hearings on Benghazi, called it “absolutely essential.”

Chambliss praised Petraeus’ career and said he did the right thing by resigning, commending President Obama for accepting his resignation as well.

“David Petraeus is a great leader, a great patriot,” he said on ABC. “And he's a guy who has probably contributed more to the safety of the United States of America over the last decade than any one, single individual and he's a good leader. And what leaders do, when they're put in a difficult position is, they lead. And he led here by doing what he thought was the right thing. And I think he did do the right thing.”