A congressional report shows security cuts before the Benghazi attack were approved by the secretary of state and that White House talking points describing the events were edited to protect the State Department.
...Despite then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's denials that pleadings from Ambassador Chris Stevens, killed in the terrorist attack, never reached her desk, the interim Benghazi report concludes that:
Reductions of security levels prior to the attacks in Benghazi were approved at the highest levels of the State Department, up to and including Secretary Clinton. This fact contradicts her testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on January 23, 2013.
Indeed it does. On that date, Clinton testified: "I have made it very clear that the security cables did not come to my attention or above the assistant secretary level where the ARB (Accountability Review Board) placed responsibility."
The 46-page report by the five committees of jurisdiction cites an April 19, 2012, cable bearing Clinton's signature acknowledging a formal request dated March 28, 2012, from then-U.S. Ambassador to Libya Gene Cretz for additional security assets but ordering the withdrawal of security elements to proceed as planned.
After the attack, the talking points that became the administration's version of events were drafted. But contrary to administration rhetoric, changes to the talking points were not made to protect classified information. Concern for classified information is never mentioned in email traffic among senior administration officials.
...The report quotes one email saying there was concern that members of Congress would attack the State Department for "not paying attention to Agency warnings" regarding the mounting threat in Benghazi.
The report also says changes eliminating the truth about Benghazi were made at the behest of the White House and the State Department, and that the changes were made to make the administration look good.
The administration then sent Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, to appear on five Sunday morning talk shows with the newly edited talking points and the bald-faced lie that the attack on the Benghazi compound was spurred by a "spontaneous" demonstration against an anti-Muslim Internet video.
"What difference, at this point, does it make?" was Clinton's heated response when pressed why the White House long insisted the deaths of four Americans was the result of reaction to a YouTube video and not to an organized terrorist attack for which the administration was not prepared and tried to sweep under the Oval Office rug.
To the families of Christopher Stevens, Glen Doherty, Sean Smith and Ty Woods, the truth still matters and makes a world of difference.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. When the complete history of the Obama administration is written it will make Watergate look like a Lindsay Lohan shoplifting incident.
Hat tips: BadBlue News Service and MaserMedia.
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