Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton wrapped up 11 hours of testimony before American Congress being grilled by politicians seeking details about the 2012 attack that killed four Americans in Benghazi, Libya.
Ms Clinton sat for four consecutive hours-long sessions in a packed hearing room of the House Special Committee on Benghazi, answering accusations by Republicans that she did not do enough to protect the US mission in Libya during a period of deep unrest, and then hid details of how she responded to the attacks.
Ms Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner for president, remained composed through her interrogation by the Republicans on the panel.
Democratic politicians on the panel occasionally lashed out at their Republican colleagues in her defence.
"If we stay here much longer, you're going to have to take that 3am phone call from the committee room," said Democratic panel member Adam Schiff.
The reference was to a famous Clinton ad during the 2008 presidential campaign suggesting that she would be best prepared to handle national emergencies.
In her testimony, Ms Clinton managed to accuse her rivals of exploiting the deadly attacks in Libya - which came under her watch as secretary of state - for political gain.
Ms Clinton, 67, stayed out of the political fray during several heated arguments between Republicans and her Democratic allies and remained composed under aggressive questioning from Republicans.
The long hearing uncovered no new revelations in a deadly incident that has been the subject of a half-dozen other congressional investigations and an independent inquiry.
Ms Clinton said it was "personally painful" to be accused of ignoring security upgrades that could have saved the life of ambassador J Christopher Stevens and three other Americans at the diplomatic compound.
"I've thought more about what happened than all of you put together," she told the Republican-led special panel.
"I've lost more sleep than all of you put together. I've been racking my brain about what could have been done, should have been done," she added.
Clinton says attacks must not discourage US action globally
The appearance before the Benghazi panel was a critical hurdle for Ms Clinton, who has been on the up since turning in a strong performance at last week's first Democratic debate and after Wednesday's news that her strongest potential challenger, Vice President Joe Biden, will not seek the Democratic nomination for the November 2016 election.
Even some Republicans said Republican politicians had swung at Ms Clinton and missed with their aggressive questioning.
"They forget Secretary Clinton has been dealing with hostile committees longer than most of them have been in politics at any level," Texas-based Republican strategist Joe Brettell said.
Representative Trey Gowdy, chairman of the special panel, acknowledged to reporters afterwards that Ms Clinton's testimony was not significantly different than her previous testimony on the incident.
Ms Clinton defended her leadership in Libya as America's top diplomat and denied long-standing Republican allegations that she personally turned down requests to beef up security in Benghazi.
"I was responsible for quite a lot," Ms Clinton said. "I was not responsible for specific requests and security provisions."
She told the panel the attacks must not discourage US action globally and said the incident already had been thoroughly investigated.
"We need leadership at home to match our leadership abroad, leadership that puts national security ahead of politics and ideology," Ms Clinton said in a veiled reference to the political controversy that has dogged the panel.
The panel has spent 17 months looking into the attacks at the US mission compound. Ms Clinton's long-awaited testimony was the most high-profile appearance yet before a committee that has already interviewed more than 50 witnesses.
