The Republican Party has launched a new website dedicated to providing the American people an array of documents related to the deadly Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attack on two U.S. compounds in Benghazi.
The website currently includes House and Senate committee reports of their investigations into the Benghazi attacks, transcripts and notes from several congressional committee hearings on the attack. However, the site will also be updated with new documents as they become available.
House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) office said in a press release that the site was created to bring the “facts straight to the American people by way of hundreds of pages of documents and transcripts the White House doesn’t want you to read.”
“The investigation is ongoing, and the search for the truth continues, so new documents will be added as they are made available,” the release adds.
The homepage of GOP.gov/benghazi proclaims that the “fight for answers and justice” in the Benghazi investigation is still ongoing. The site accuses the White House of refusing to tell the “whole truth.”
As reported by the Washington Post, the Senate Intelligence Committee released its much-anticipated report on Benghazi, placing blame on the State Department and intelligence community for not doing enough to stop the “preventable” attack. The report found that the State Department under Hillary Clinton neglected to provide more security at the compound despite warnings.
However, the report failed to find irrefutable evidence proving a political cover-up in the aftermath of the Benghazi attack. Some lawmakers allege this is due to stonewalling efforts by the Obama administration.
April 24th, 2014, 03:19
vector7
Re: Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya crisis: Benghazi
The Citizens Commission on Benghazi, a self-selected group of former top military officers, CIA insiders and think-tankers, declared Tuesday in Washington that a seven-month review of the deadly 2012 terrorist attack has determined that it could have been prevented – if the U.S. hadn't been helping to arm al-Qaeda militias throughout Libya a year earlier.
'The United States switched sides in the war on terror with what we did in Libya, knowingly facilitating the provision of weapons to known al-Qaeda militias and figures,' Clare Lopez, a member of the commission and a former CIA officer, told MailOnline.
She blamed the Obama administration for failing to stop half of a $1 billion United Arab Emirates arms shipment from reaching al-Qaeda-linked militants.
'Remember, these weapons that came into Benghazi were permitted to enter by our armed forces who were blockading the approaches from air and sea,' Lopez claimed. 'They were permitted to come in. ... [They] knew these weapons were coming in, and that was allowed..
'The intelligence community was part of that, the Department of State was part of that, and certainly that means that the top leadership of the United States, our national security leadership, and potentially Congress – if they were briefed on this – also knew about this.'
The weapons were intended for Gaddafi but allowed by the U.S. to flow to his Islamist opposition.
Scroll down for video
The Citizens Committee on Benghazi released its interim findings on April 22, 2014 in Washington. Pictured are (L-R) Clare Lopez, Admiral (Ret.) Chuck Kubic, Admiral (Ret.) James 'Ace' Lyons, former CIA officer Wayne Simmons and civil rights attorney John Clarke
On September 11, 2012 armed terror-linked militias attacked U.S. diplomatic outposts in Benghazi, Libya, killing four Americans and driving the United States out of that part of the country
'The White House and senior Congressional members,' the group wrote in an interim report released Tuesday, 'deliberately and knowingly pursued a policy that provided material support to terrorist organizations in order to topple a ruler [Muammar Gaddafi] who had been working closely with the West actively to suppress al-Qaeda.'
'Some look at it as treason,' said Wayne Simmons, a former CIA officer who participated in the commission's research.
Retired Rear Admiral Chuck Kubic, another commission member, told reporters Tuesday that those weapons are now 'all in Syria.'
'Gaddafi wasn't a good guy, but he was being marginalized,' Kubic recalled. 'Gaddafi actually offered to abdicate' shortly after the beginning of a 2011 rebellion.
'But the U.S. ignored his calls for a truce,' the commission wrote, ultimately backing the horse that would later help kill a U.S. ambassador.
Kubic said that the effort at truce talks fell apart when the White House declined to let the Pentagon pursue it seriously.
'We had a leader who had won the Nobel Peace Prize,' Kubic said, 'but who was unwilling to give peace a chance for 72 hours.'
In March 2011, Kubic said, U.S. Army Africa Commander General Carter told NBC News that the U.S. military was not actively targeting Muammar Gaddafi. That, Kubic revealed, was a signal to the Libyan dictator that there was a chance for a deal.
Gaddafi responded by 'verifiably ... pull[ing] his forces back from key rebel-held cities such as Benghazi and Misrata.'
Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in January 23 that it mattered little why the Benghazi diplomatic compound was attacked: 'What difference, at this point, does it make?'
Gaddafi wanted only two conditions to step down: permission to keeo fighting al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and the lifting of sactions against him, his family, and those loyal to him.
The Obama administration's unwillingness to help broker a peaceful exit for the Libyan strongman, 'led to extensive loss of life (including four Americans)' when al-Qaeda-linked militants attacked U.S. diplomatic facilities in the city of Benghazi,' the commission told reporters.
The White House and the National Security Staff did not immediately respond to questions about the group's findings.
'We don't claim to have all the answers here,' said Roger Aronoff, whose center-right group Accuracy in Media sponsored the group and its work.
'We hope you will, please, pursue this,' he told reporters. 'Check it out. Challenge us.'
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/...33_306x423.jpg
Retired Admiral Chuck Kubic said the White House refused to let the Pentagon pursue a peaceful exit for Muammar Gaddafi: 'We had a leader who had won the Nobel Peace Prize, but who was unwilling to give peace a chance for 72 hours'
The commission and AIM filed 85 document requests under the Freedom Of Information Act, hitting the Department of Defense, State Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Central Intelligence Agency with demand after demand.
But most of its information has come from insiders with deep knowledge of the flow of weapons in Libya and elsewhere in the African Maghreb.
Admiral James 'Ace' Lyons told the group that he believes the raid on the Benghazi compound was intended as a kidnapping exercise, aimed at snatching U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and demanding a prisoner swap for the 'blind sheikh' Omar Abdel-Rahman.
Abdel-Rahman is serving a life sentence in federal prison for planning the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center garage in New York City. He also masterminded a plan, later foiled, to blow up the United Nations, both the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, the George Washington Bridge and a federal building where the FBI had a base of operations.
A senior FBI source, Lyons said Tuesday, 'told me that was the plan.'
The attack, history shows, grew in intensity and resulted in the deaths of Stevens and three other U.S. personnel.
Lyons also said U.S. claims that it lacked the resources to mount a counterattack in time to save lives is false.
'I'm going to tell you that's not true,' he said. 'We had a 130-man unit of forces at Sigonella [AFB in Italy]. They were ready to go.'
'The flight time from Sigonella to Benghazi is roughly an hour.'
Some of the group's claims strain credibility, including the assertion that the Obama administration's early effort to blame the Benghazi attack on a protest against a crude anti-Muslim YouTube video 'appears to have been well-coordinated with U.S.Muslim Brotherhood organizations as well as Islamic state members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).'
Those groups, the commission noted, 'all joined in condemnation of the video, and, even more troubling, issued calls for restrictions on Americans’ free speech rights.'
But Simmons, the former CIA officer, criticized the Obama administration on the familiar refrain of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton exclaiming in a Senate hearing that it mattered little why the Benghazi facilities were struck.
'They believed they were going to be saved, that they were going to be rescued, but they weren't,' Simmons said of the four Americans who died.
'I know who made the decision, in my heart of hearts, to leave our war fighters there and be blown up. And then to have one of the most powerful politicians in our country sit there and say, "What difference does it make?" – should be an alarm bell for all Americans.
'It haunts me,' Simmons said. 'I play that line over, and over, and over, and over in my mind.'
The group has called for a Select Congressional Committee to investigate the Benghazi episode. A total of 189 House members have signed on to a bill that would create the committee, which would be bipartisan and have sweeping powers to subpoena the executive branch.
House Speaker John Boehner, Lopez said Tuesday, 'he blocked it. One has to wonder if he and Congress have had some sort of briefing on what happened.'
Kubic insisted that Congress is unable to break logjams in the Obama administration and find out what happened in the days leading up to and following the Benghazi attack without a new committee.
'If they don't have strong subpoena power, if they don't have the ability to do long-term cross examination, it won't work,' he said.
April 29th, 2014, 17:17
American Patriot
Re: Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya crisis: Benghazi
Here we go....
Benghazi Emails Show White House Effort to Protect Obama
Benghazi Emails Show White House Effort to Protect Obama
Staff attempted to insulate president’s policies from criticism ahead of election
Previously unreleased internal Obama administration emails show that a coordinated effort was made in the days following the Benghazi terror attacks to portray the incident as “rooted in [an] Internet video, and not [in] a broader failure or policy.” Emails sent by senior White House adviser Ben Rhodes to other top administration officials reveal an effort to insulate President Barack Obama from the attacks that killed four Americans.
Rhodes sent this email to top White House officials such as David Plouffe and Jay Carney just a day before National Security Adviser Susan Rice made her infamous Sunday news show appearances to discuss the attack.
The “goal,” according to these emails, was “to underscore that these protests are rooted in an Internet video, and not a broader failure or policy.”
Rice came under fierce criticism following her appearances on television after she adhered to these talking points and blamed the attack on a little-watched Internet video.
The newly released internal White House e-mails show that Rice’s orders came from top Obama administration communications officials.
“[W]e’ve made our views on this video crystal clear. The United States government had nothing to do with it,” Rhodes wrote in the email, which was released on Tuesday by the advocacy group Judicial Watch.
“We reject its message and its contents,” he wrote. “We find it disgusting and reprehensible. But there is absolutely no justification at all for responding to this movie with violence. And we are working to make sure that people around the globe hear that message.”
Rhodes also suggested that Rice tout Obama’s reputation as “steady and statesmanlike.”
“I think that people have come to trust that President Obama provides leadership that is steady and statesmanlike,” he wrote. “There are always going to be challenges that emerge around the world, and time and again, he has shown that we can meet them.”
Also contained in the 41 pages of documents obtained by Judicial Watch is a Sep. 12, 2012 email from Payton Knopf, the former deputy spokesman at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.
In this communication, Knopf informs Rice that senior officials had already dubbed the Benghazi attack as “complex” and planned in advance. Despite this information, Rice still insisted that attacks were “spontaneous.”
The newly released cache of emails also appear to confirm that the CIA altered its original talking points on the attacks in the following days.
Then-CIA Deputy Director Mike Morell is identified as the person who heavily edited the critical fact sheet.
“The first draft apparently seemed unsuitable … because they seemed to encourage the reader to infer incorrectly that the CIA had warned about a specific attack on our embassy,” states one email. “Morell noted that these points were not good and he had taken a heavy hand to editing them. He noted that he would be happy to work with [then deputy chief of staff to Hillary Clinton] Jake Sullivan and Rhodes to develop appropriate talking points.”
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said that the emails show the White House was most concerned with insulating Obama.
“Now we know the Obama White House’s chief concern about the Benghazi attack was making sure that President Obama looked good,” Fitton said in a statement. “And these documents undermine the Obama administration’s narrative that it thought the Benghazi attack had something to do with protests or an Internet video.”
“Given the explosive material in these documents, it is no surprise that we had to go to federal court to pry them loose from the Obama State Department,” Fitton said.
This entry was posted in National Security and tagged Barack Obama, Benghazi, Jay Carney, Susan Rice, White House. Bookmark the permalink.
April 29th, 2014, 20:06
American Patriot
Re: Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya crisis: Benghazi
Confirmed: Benghazi Documents Point to White House on Susan Rice’s Bogus Talking Points
April, 29, 2014 — nicedeb Fox News’ Catherine Herridge reported on some new developments via Judicial Watch in the investigation into the Sept. 2012 Benghazi attack, including the release of documents that lead directly to the White House.
You will be not surprised to find that White House “fixer” Ben Rhodeswrote the memo emphasizing the importance of the youtube video to Obama’s paid hacks, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, Deputy Press Secretary Joshua Earnest, then-White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer, then-White House Deputy Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri, then-National Security Council Director of Communications Erin Pelton, Special Assistant to the Press Secretary Howli Ledbetter, and then-White House Senior Advisor and political strategist Davie Plouffe to disseminate to the public. In other words, the entire White House communications staff – public servants who work for the American people – provided political cover to the Regime during an election year, rather than provide the best information they had on an issue of great national importance, to the American public.
Under the subject “prep call with Susan,” Rhodes wrote that the goal for Rice’s appearances on Sunday talk shows would be “to underscore that these protests are rooted in an Internet video, and not a broader failure or policy.”
The message was sent three days after the attacks, which left four Americans dead at a U.S. consulate and nearby CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya.
Days later, Rice would go on numerous Sunday news programs, including on Fox News Sunday, to falsely assert that the Benghazi attack was spontaneous and occurred during a protest over an anti-Islam video. Since that time, the White House has come under fierce criticism from Republicans, who allege that the administration altered the CIA’s talking points about how the Benghazi attack unfolded.
We now know that the attacks had nothing to do with the video, and everything to do with the Regime’s failure to secure and defend the compound in Benghazi.
These people are disgusting.
You have to wonder – was it worth it to the Regime to invent the YouTube story? - Since so many of us knew it was BS from the start, and it’s just one more scandal to add to the their impressive list of scandals? But then – when I say “so many of us” I’m not talking about the public, at large, am I? The MSM went to bat for the Regime in the wake of the Benghazi attack – in many cases acting like unpaid members of Obama’s communication team (Candy Crowley comes to mind.) In the end, it would seem that the lies helped Obama limp across the finish line because most people believed the lies the the White House and the media disseminated. FLASHBACK to Feb 23, 2013: Susan Rice – No Regrets over Benghazi Remarks:
President Barack Obama’s national security adviser, Susan Rice, said on Sunday she was not “100 percent correct” in her remarks after the deadly 2012 attack on a U.S. compound in Libya, but called it patently false to say she intentionally misled Americans about the incident.
Republican critics were not satisfied with her explanation, with Senator John McCain proclaiming himself “almost speechless.”
On Sept. 11, 2012, an attack by militants killed four Americans at the U.S. mission in Benghazi, including American Ambassador Christopher Stevens. Just days later, Rice appeared on news shows and stated that the attack was the work of a spontaneous crowd, instead of Islamic militants.
When Rice’s 2012 account proved incorrect, Republican lawmakers accused her of trying to protect Obama during his re-election campaign, which the White House disputed.
Appearing on the NBC program “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Rice said, “I commented that this was based on what we knew on that morning (and) was provided to me and my colleagues – and indeed to Congress – by the intelligence community. And that’s been well validated in many different ways since.”
“And that information turned out, in some respects, not to be 100 percent correct. But the notion that somehow I or anybody else in the administration misled the American people is patently false,” she added.
Rice said she did not have any regrets about the 2012 comments. She also said the United States remains committed to catching the perpetrators of the attack. “And we will stay on it until this gets done,” she added.
Does it make you rest easy at night knowing that this woman is the president’s National Security Advisor?
May 1st, 2014, 19:32
American Patriot
Re: Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya crisis: Benghazi
On Tuesday afternoon FOX reporter Catherine Herridge broke the news that a Senior White House aide, Ben Rhodes, had written an email to Susan Rice, instructing her to blame the Benghazi debacle on a spontaneous uprising over an-all-but-unknown video which had appeared on YouTube. Not only was a general direction indicated but specific instructions were provided.
The FOX News story provided details:
The Rhodes email, with the subject line: “RE: PREP Call with Susan: Saturday at 4:00 pm ET,’” was sent to a dozen members of the administration’s inner circle, including key members of the White House communications team such as Press Secretary Jay Carney. In the email, Rhodes specifically draws attention to the anti-Islam Internet video…The email lists the following two goals, among others:
“To underscore that these protests are rooted in an Internet video, and not a broader failure of policy.”
“To reinforce the President and Administration’s strength and steadiness in dealing with difficult challenges.”
FOX News wasn’t done: “The email goes on to state that the U.S. government rejected the message of the Internet video. ‘We find it disgusting and reprehensible. But there is absolutely no justification at all for responding to this movie with violence,’ the email stated.”
Sound familiar? It should; that line had blared from television screens and newspapers, non-stop, and was faithfully parroted by every member of the regime from the Lyin’ King down since the Benghazi travesty took place. Mr. Rhodes must, however, be corrected on one point. The video meme is not nearly as “disgusting and reprehensible” as is the outright lie, spanning years, that the most “transparent administration in history” has tried to shovel over the dead Americans in Benghazi and the living consciousness’ of outraged Americans.
The House announced a short time ago that a Select Committee on Benghazi is being formed and would start calling in witnesses soon. Looks like a Benghazigatesque type of situation is about to begin.
Source: Fox News
May 2nd, 2014, 16:00
American Patriot
Re: Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya crisis: Benghazi
BREAKING: Boehner to Form Select Committee on Benghazi
Posted: May 2, 2014 | Author: Pundit from another Planet | Filed under: Breaking News, Crime & Punishment | Tags: Americans, Ben Rhodes, Benghazi, John Boehner, Susan Rice, Trey Gowdy, White House |2 Commentshttp://punditfromanotherplanet.files...pg?w=590&h=392
UPDATE: Other news organizations confirm the report below that House speaker John Boehner will announce the formation of a select committee on Benghazi, led by Rep. Trey Gowdy. House Speaker John Boehner is “seriously considering” appointing a select committee to investigate the attacks on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, according to a senior GOP leadership aide. The move comes after the revelation of an email from a top Obama national security official, Ben Rhodes, instructing Susan Rice to focus on an anti-Muslim internet video to explain the attacks. “For the first time we have clear and public evidence that the White House was more involved in misleading the American people than it had previous admitted. And, second, it’s now proven that the administration withheld relevant documents from a congressional subpoena request…”
“The new emails this week were the straw that broke the camel’s back,” says the aide. “The Speaker was furious to learn that the admininstration withheld relevant documents from a congressional subpoena. He’s sick and tired of this evasion and obstruction from the administration, and wants a solution to finally force accountability, get to the truth, and provide justice.”
“…the administration has now demonstrated it is willing to flagrantly defy such subpoena requests, compelling the House to consider taking the strongest actions possible in an effort to ensure Americans have the truth about what happened.”
Boehner, who has paid careful attention to the Benghazi developments since the attacks, has resisted calls to appoint a select committee, preferring to allow the various committees of jurisdiction to pursue investigations of their slices of the attacks on their own. Aides say Boehner continues to believe that the work of those committees has been valuable. “The current committees investigating the attack have done good work, using their authority, including subpoena authority, to gather facts, interview hundreds of witnesses, and conduct dozens of hearings. But this week’s events demonstrate a new level of stonewalling and obfuscation by the administration that requires a new level of investigation.”
The House Oversight and Reform Committee issued a subpoena for Benghazi-related documents in August of 2013, but the Rhodes email and a second set of talking points that originated with the White House were released to the public for the first time this week after Judicial Watch, a conservative research group, obtained them via a Freedom of Information Act request. For these reasons, according the aide, “the reasons for appointing a committee now are straightforward.” The aide continued: “For the first time we have clear and public evidence that the White House was more involved in misleading the American people than it had previous admitted. And, second, it’s now proven that the administration withheld relevant documents from a congressional subpoena request. While the existing investigatory committees in the House have full subpoena power, the administration has now demonstrated it is willing to flagrantly defy such subpoena requests, compelling the House to consider taking the strongest actions possible in an effort to ensure Americans have the truth about what happened.”
The details of the exact structure of the special committee are still under discussion, but a source tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD that Rep. Trey Gowdy, a lawmaker with a reputation for tough questioning of administration witnesses, is under consideration to chair it. Gowdy has participated in meetings of an ad hoc committee of House members from various committees of jurisdiction who have met informally to compare notes and shape strategy on the Benghazi investigations…(read more)
May 2nd, 2014, 16:02
American Patriot
Re: Are Tunisia and Egypt Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
Got news for ya, Jay the Carney, no one is gonna stop talking about Benghazi now.
John Kerry Subpoenaed By House Committee To Testify On Benghazi
Secretary of State John Kerry has been subpoenaed by House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrel Issa, who has been investigating the events of Benghazi since they occurred. The subpoena will require Secretary Kerry to testify before the committee. Issa could have sent him an invitation, but a subpoena is a more serious motion that raises the issue to a higher level. This comes days after new emails have surfaced showing Ambassador Susan Rice being coached to blame a video on the Internet as the reason for the attack.
__________________
The House has subpoenaed Secretary of State John F. Kerry to force him to answer questions about how his department has handled questions about the Benghazi terrorist attack.
Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the Oversight Committee that has been investigating the attacks, sent a letter demanding Mr. Kerry appear and testify on May 21. He said the State Department has “shown a disturbing disregard” for its legal obligations to Congress.
“Compliance with a subpoena for documents is not a game,” Mr. Issa said in issuing a subpoena, which gives Mr. Kerry no choice but to appear. He could have issued an invitation, which would have given the secretary more leeway, but the subpoena raises the issue to a higher level.
The letter comes after the White House has struggled to explain why the administration didn’t turn over a document showing a top national security aide to President Obama coaching others on how to respond to questions in the wake of the Benghazi attacks. The aide urges that the focus be placed on an anti-Islam video — though both defense and intelligence community sources at the time had already disregarded the video as the reason for the attack on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi.
Mr. Issa said he had subpoenaed records that should have included that email, but the administration didn’t turn it over until forced to do so in a court challenge brought by Judicial Watch. Read More
May 2nd, 2014, 16:06
American Patriot
Re: Are Tunisia and Egypt Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
Photoshop strikes again
Bombshell: NSA Spokesman Says Obama Never Entered The Situation Room During Benghazi Attack
In a contentious interview with Bret Baier on Fox News, former NSA spokesperson Tommy Vietor admitted that Barack Obama never even entered the situation room even as the attack continued at the Benghazi consulate.
Ironically, he was trying to defend the president when he made this comments, by criticizing Fox News for airing reports that Obama watched the attack unfold from the Situation Room. Is it any better that he never bothered to check in and see what was going on?
May 2nd, 2014, 17:29
Malsua
Re: Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya crisis: Benghazi
Wouldn't it be great if this is the arrow that brings the zero administration to heel?
They didn't even need to lie about it! Well, unless of course they were running arms to the islamists...
May 2nd, 2014, 17:37
American Patriot
Re: Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya crisis: Benghazi
I am getting the distinct impression this was to keep all eyes off Obama's piss poor policies at this point. So the lying, regardless of whether they were running guns or just trying to keep people from paying attention has caused much more attention than they ever wanted.
The old Shakespearean quote from Hamlet, "The lady doth protest too much, methinks"applies in particular to both Nanny Pelosi and Hillary Clinton. Everything from "Why, at this point does it matter?" to "Why are we still talking about this" are nothing more than attempts to redirect folks' attention to anything OTHER than Benghazi.
Hell, at this point, I think the whole Cliven Bundy Ranch War thing was an attempt to wag the dog and bring attention away from the Ukraine, Benghazi and Russia.
We're in deep shit in this country, the Democraps know it, the Liberals and Marxists KNOW it, and the Russians and Chinese KNOW it. All of us KNOW it.
Lying simply exacerbates the problem and makes the Administration look like a bunch of weak-kneed pansy-asses.
May 2nd, 2014, 17:40
American Patriot
Re: Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya crisis: Benghazi
Well... here you go... "doth protest too much"
WH Blames 'Politicization' for Benghazi... Just Like Every Other Scandal
http://cdn.breitbart.com/mediaserver...0-bshapiro.pngOn Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney spun wildly to avoid the evidence that the White House had manipulated the talking points of then-UN Ambassador Susan Rice regarding the Benghazi attacks of September 11, 2012.
That evidence showed that the White House told Rice that her goal on the Sunday shows would be “to underscore that these protests are rooted in an Internet video, not a broader failure of policy.” In other words, tell the public to blame YouTube, not our feckless and cowardly foreign policy, for the dead Americans prior to the 2012 election.
Carney attempted to state that the email itself wasn’t about Benghazi – it was about Middle East protests in general. That claim doesn’t hold water, given that the email was released in response to a request from Judicial Watch for documents related to Benghazi and the fact that Rice explicitly connected the YouTube videos to Benghazi.
On Thursday, nonetheless, Carney claimed that the entire issue had been politicized and ripped the investigation into Benghazi altogether. That’s nothing new for Carney, who has stated in the past that Benghazi was politicized by Mitt Romney and suggested in 2013, “This is a subject that has from its beginning been subject to attempts to politicize it by Republicans, when in fact what happened in Benghazi was a tragedy.” He added that all scandals of the Obama administration had been politicized thanks to the “rapid politicization of everything.” President Obama, of course, similarly commented that all of his scandals, from the IRS targeting conservatives to the Department of Justice targeting the Associated Press to Fast and Furious, were “phony” concoctions by an anti-Obama right wing.
Carney wasn’t the only White House official spinning the Benghazi smoking gun email this week. “Unlike those who insist on politicizing the events in Benghazi, our focus remains on ensuring that a tragedy like this isn’t repeated in Libya or anywhere else in the world,” said Bernadette Meehan of the National Security Council.
This nonsensical excuse – a scandal doesn’t matter because others are politicizing the scandal – has become a mainstay of political attempts to misdirect from political headaches. Here are the top 5 instances of that excuse from the deeply guilty:
John Kerry’s Israel “apartheid” comments. This week, Secretary of State John Kerry was caught on tape at the Trilateral Commission stating that Israel would become an “apartheid state” if it did not make concessions to the Palestinians – who had just signed a deal between the supposedly non-terrorist Palestinian Authority and the overt terrorist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad. After the tape broke, Kerry blamed partisan politics: “I will not allow my commitment to Israel to be questioned by anyone, particularly for partisan, political purposes.” How exactly The Daily Beast, which reported the quotes, is “partisan” or “political” in its opposition to John Kerry remained unexplained, given The Daily Beast’s well-known leftist slant.
Chris Christie’s Bridgegate. As the Christie administration in New Jersey was caught up in revelations that the governor’s office had worked with the Port Authority to punish a political opponent with lane closures on the George Washington Bridge, Christie’s allies showed up to blame partisan politics for the whole ordeal. New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani called the episode a “partisan witch hunt.” Congressional candidate Steve Lonegan said that the situation was “a bunch of political hacks trying to tear down the image of a governor who’s been successful.”
Weinergate. After Anthony Weiner revealed himself to the world via Twitter, The New York Times reported, “a more prying press corps, stricter public standards and greater partisanship have combined to make Washington oddly more puritanical than it once was.”
Hillary’s “Vast Right Wing Conspiracy.” Just a few days after Matt Drudge’s DrudgeReport.com broke the news that President Clinton had lied under oath about his affair with Monica Lewinsky, Hillary appeared on The Today Show and explained, “I do believe that this is a battle. I mean, look at the very people who are involved in this – they have popped up in other settings. This is – the great story here for anybody willing to find it and write about it and explain it is this vast right-wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he announced for president.” She complained of the “intense political agenda at work here.” That did not change the fact that her husband committed perjury.
Watergate. When rumors of a break-in by political operatives at the Watergate Hotel first broke, Nixon’s political allies in Congress called it a partisan witch hunt. Rep. Edward Gurney (R-FL) said that Watergate was “one of those political wing-dings that happen every political year.” Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) charged that it was a “partisan” exercise to go after Nixon. Nixon himself said that the quest to go after him was “all a Kennedy deal.” That didn’t change Nixon’s complicity in bugging. And it didn’t save him.
Re: Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya crisis: Benghazi
Boehner Orders Select Committee on Benghazi — Trey Gowdy of South Carolina Will Chair A Republican Panel To Investigate
By Chuck Todd and Luke Russert
NBC News House Republicans announced on Friday their intention to form a special select committee on Benghazi, intensifying already highly-charged GOP scrutiny of the Obama administration’s handling of the September 2012 attacks that left four Americans dead.
The committee will be led by GOP Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina.
“It’s clear that questions remain, and the administration still does not respect the authority of Congress to provide proper oversight,” House Speaker John Boehner said in a statement. “This dismissiveness and evasion requires us to elevate the investigation to a new level. I intend for this select committee to have robust authority, and I will expect it to work quickly to get answers for the American people and the families of the victims.”
Past select committees have included members of both parties. A spokesman for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said that Democrats “have not been contacted by Speaker Boehner or the Republican leadership concerning a select committee proposal.”
The announcement comes after newly released documents reignited the controversy over how the White House and the State Department crafted their response to the attack. Republicans allege that the White House knowingly misled the public about the origin of the assault in order to bolster claims that terrorist groups had been weakened during Obama’s first term; Democrats say that the GOP has fueled the controversy for political purposes alone.
Earlier Friday, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa announced the subpoena of Secretary of State John Kerry over documents related to the attack.
NBC’s Carrie Dann and Frank Thorp contributed to this report. http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/u.../600x42631.jpg
Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., questions a witness during the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s hearing on Benghazi on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 8, 2013. House Republicans insist the Obama administration is covering up information about the deadly assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, last year, rejecting administration assurances to the contrary and stoking a controversy with implications for the 2016 presidential race. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
May 2nd, 2014, 18:57
MinutemanCO
Re: Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya crisis: Benghazi
Quote:
Originally Posted by American Patriot
Boehner Orders Select Committee on Benghazi — Trey Gowdy of South Carolina Will Chair A Republican Panel To Investigate
I'm sorry. I've got about as much confidence in the House effectively bringing this issue to justice as I have in Obama being an excellent president. Every single one of these stinking politicians is corrupt whether or not they are in bed together.
A select panel of citizen participants might get to the bottom of the issue if they had some authority. However, in a Constitutional Republic, that ain't how it works.
May 2nd, 2014, 19:02
American Patriot
Re: Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya crisis: Benghazi
Not sure MMCO. Remember Watergate was a petty crime, and they forced Nixon out.
May 2nd, 2014, 19:43
American Patriot
Re: Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya crisis: Benghazi
Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Kelly Ayotte Send Letter to President Obama Asking About Benghazi
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), Kelly Ayotte (R-New Hampshire) and John McCain (R-Arizona) today wrote to President Obama asking him to confirm a statement made by former Communications Director for the National Security Council Tommy Vietor that President Obama was absent from the White House Situation Room during the Benghazi attacks. Text of the Graham-Ayotte-McCain letter is below:
Dear Mr. President: Last night, the former Communications Director for the National Security Council, Tommy Vietor, stated that on the afternoon and night of September 11, 2012 — while the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya was under attack — that you never visited the White House Situation Room to monitor events. Over a year and a half has passed since the terrorist attacks, and the American people still do not have an accounting of your activities during the attack. Mr. President, can you now confirm that Mr. Vietor’s account of your absence in the White House Situation Room is accurate?
Thank you again for your attention to this matter. -
**********************
The letter was apparently prompted by the appearance of former Communications Director for the National Security Council, Tommy Vietor, on the Fox News Channel, Thursday, May 2, 2014.
May 5th, 2014, 17:52
American Patriot
Re: Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya crisis: Benghazi
Report: White House sent ‘smoking gun’ email to Muslim Brotherhood agent
On Saturday, a report at Shoebat.com said that a leader of a Muslim brotherhood front group is on the distribution list of the so-called “smoking gun” email that indicates former U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice was coached to blame the Benghazi terror attack was the result of an obscure online video.
Among those listed on the distribution list is Mehdi K. Alhassani, the leader of the Muslim Student Association, who, according to the Shoebat Foundation, attended the sister mosque of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center mosque attended by the Boston Marathon bombers. Alhassani, Shoebat adds, also serves as a Special Assistant to the Office of the Chief of Staff, National Security Council Staff, and Executive Office of the President.
According to Shoebat, Alhassani met with with Samir Mayekar, a George Soros ‘fellow,’ for an unscheduled visit a few hours before the fateful Sept. 11, 2012 attack that ended with the deaths of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. The report said it is unknown why the two met.
As a Muslim Brotherhood operative, Shoebat added, it is natural that Alhassani would want the attack blamed on the YouTube video. The Foundation reported two days after the attack that “these forces had been hard at work on that very agenda.”
Both the White House and the Muslim Brotherhood had a stake in blaming the attack on a video, Shoebat said. As the email says, the intent was to take attention away from what the email called a “broader failure of policy.”
Read more at Examiner
May 5th, 2014, 19:55
Avvakum
Re: Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya crisis: Benghazi
Quote:
Originally Posted by American Patriot
Report: White House sent ‘smoking gun’ email to Muslim Brotherhood agent
On Saturday, a report at Shoebat.com said that a leader of a Muslim brotherhood front group is on the distribution list of the so-called “smoking gun” email that indicates former U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice was coached to blame the Benghazi terror attack was the result of an obscure online video.
Among those listed on the distribution list is Mehdi K. Alhassani, the leader of the Muslim Student Association, who, according to the Shoebat Foundation, attended the sister mosque of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center mosque attended by the Boston Marathon bombers. Alhassani, Shoebat adds, also serves as a Special Assistant to the Office of the Chief of Staff, National Security Council Staff, and Executive Office of the President.
According to Shoebat, Alhassani met with with Samir Mayekar, a George Soros ‘fellow,’ for an unscheduled visit a few hours before the fateful Sept. 11, 2012 attack that ended with the deaths of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. The report said it is unknown why the two met.
As a Muslim Brotherhood operative, Shoebat added, it is natural that Alhassani would want the attack blamed on the YouTube video. The Foundation reported two days after the attack that “these forces had been hard at work on that very agenda.”
Both the White House and the Muslim Brotherhood had a stake in blaming the attack on a video, Shoebat said. As the email says, the intent was to take attention away from what the email called a “broader failure of policy.”
Read more at Examiner
Boom.... Heads need to roll.
And everybody who voted these Swine in-a Second Time!-need to have their collective asses kicked.
May 6th, 2014, 13:58
American Patriot
Re: Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya crisis: Benghazi
Of course, Kerry is above the law....
KERRY REFUSES CONGRESSIONAL SUBPOENA ABOUT BENGHAZI
CBS: “The State Department said Monday that Secretary of State John Kerry would not appear before the House Oversight Committee on May 21 to talk about Benghazi — as demanded in a subpoena from the panel’s chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said Kerry planned to travel to Mexico at that time and officials would discuss alternative options with the committee.”
Department spokesperson said things can be worked out but they were very surprised the GOP did not contact them before issuing their subpoena. “ I’ve noted here, there have been a number of Republicans who themselves, under the previous administration, said a secretary of state should not be subpoenaed.”
America, the people, is looking for the facts behind the deaths of four citizens who gave their lives to protect our country. Trey Gowdy was just appointed to head the Select Committee and the liberals threaten to boycott. We were not the only one’s to endorse Gowdy as the best possible choice.
John Kerry works for us, keep that in mind as he continues to tell the majority of the people what he wants to do.
Nancy Pelosi suggested to Fox News that the Select Committee should be evenly divided among Republicans and Democrats. But Trey Gowdy says that just isn’t gonna happen and points to her own hypocrisy in the matter:
MARTHA: All right. So talk to me a little it about the makeup of this committee because Nancy Pelosi just said moments ago, to our Chad Pergram, he reported that she wants this to be an evenly divided select committee, an even number of Democrats and Republicans.
And you know that up to that statement, there have been a lot of calls for Democrats to completely boycott this committee. And there’s going to be be very little credibility if it is full of Republicans, many would say. GOWDY: Well, I certainly hope the Democrats participate. I, Martha, continue to think that some things transcend politics like the murder of four of our fellow citizens and whether or not you trust government. That is not a red or blue issue. That is an American issue. As for whether or not they boycott, I hope they don’t.
I can tell you this. It is not going to be evenly constituted and when she was Speaker Pelosi, she certainly showed no interests in having an equal number of Republicans and Democrats.
We’re in the majority. That may or may not be the case after November but we’re in the majority right now and we’re in the majority for a reason. And I just find it interesting that people’s ability to do math changes when they go from being the Speaker to the Minority Leader. MARTHA: So what, tell me what composition you see on this select committee? What would you like it to be? GOWDY: Well, the Speaker is going to decide that. Something in the 10-7 range or like what we have with other committees now. Every committee of Congress is constituted with more Republicans than Democrats because there are more Republicans than Democrats. And i hasten to add, every committee in the Senate is constituted with more Democrats than Republicans. I mean there are consequences to elections.