Final Benghazi report: No ‘smoking gun’ pointing to Clinton
ASSOCIATED PRESS
House Benghazi Committee Chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., discussed the release of his final report on the 2012 attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, where a violent mob killed four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, today, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Republicans on the committee harshly faulted the Obama administration for lax security and a slow response to the deadly 2012 attacks at the U.S. diplomatic outpost in Libya. But they produced no new allegations about then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Democratic presidential candidate former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton testified on Capitol Hill in Washington in Oct. 2015 before the House Select Committee on Benghazi. Clinton never personally denied any requests from diplomats for additional security at the U.S. outpost in Benghazi, Libya, according to Democrats on a select House panel who absolved the former secretary of state and the U.S. military of wrongdoing in the deadly Sept. 11, 2012 attacks.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Glass, debris and overturned furniture were strewn about on Sept. 12, 2012, inside a room in the gutted U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, after an attack that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. Democrats on the House Benghazi panel said in a report Monday, that security at the Libya facility the night of Sept. 11, 2012 was “woefully inadequate,” but former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton never personally denied any requests from diplomats for additional protection.
WASHINGTON » House Republicans concluded their $7 million, two-year investigation into the deadly attacks in Benghazi, Libya, with fresh accusations of lethal mistakes by the Obama administration but no “smoking gun” pointing to wrongdoing by Hillary Clinton, then secretary of state and now the Democrats’ presumptive presidential nominee.
After the long investigation, filled with partisan sniping by panel members, none of the new revelations highlighted by the House Benghazi committee in its 800-page report pointed specifically to Clinton’s actions before, during or after the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on the U.S. diplomatic outpost and CIA annex in the eastern Libyan city.
Four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, died in the attacks. Allegations against Clinton were a main impetus behind the House Republicans’ creation of the politically charged, Watergate-style select committee. Clinton testified before the panel for nearly 11 hours last fall.
While the panel’s GOP members took shots at Clinton on today, Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., the chairman, summed up the document by asking “the American people to read this report for themselves, look at the evidence we have collected and reach their own conclusions.”
In Denver, Clinton dismissed the report as an echo of previous probes with no new discoveries. “I think it’s pretty clear it’s time to move on,” she said during a campaign stop.
Hardly — especially in the heat of an election. Republican rival Donald Trump, although silent on the subject today, has frequently lashed out at Clinton over Benghazi.
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Nearly four years ago, the Libya attacks became immediate political fodder, given their timing in the weeks before President Barack Obama’s re-election, and that has not abated despite seven previous congressional investigations. There has been finger-pointing on both sides over security at the U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi and whether Clinton and the White House initially tried to portray the assault as a protest over an offensive, anti-Muslim video, instead of a calculated terrorist attack.
Republican insistence that the investigation was not politically motivated was undermined last year when House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., suggested that the committee could take credit for Clinton’s then-slumping poll numbers.
His statements helped dash his chances of becoming House Speaker.
The committee interviewed more than 100 witnesses and reviewed some 75,000 pages of documents, but an almost accidental discovery by the panel last year has shadowed Clinton’s candidacy. The committee disclosed that she had used a private email server to conduct government business while serving as secretary of state, a practice that has drawn widespread scrutiny, including an FBI investigation.
Already bitterly partisan, Tuesday’s release of the report exposed divisions within Republican ranks.
Reps. Mike Pompeo of Kansas and Jim Jordan of Ohio issued a separate report slamming Clinton and the Obama administration, with Pompeo telling reporters that the former first lady and senator was “morally reprehensible.” Clinton’s public comments casting the attack as a possible protest over the anti-Muslim video differed sharply from her private assessments to family members and diplomats, Jordan and Pompeo said.
Gowdy, however, deflected questions about her, saying the report “is not about one person.”
The GOP report severely criticizes the military, CIA and administration officials for their response as the attacks unfolded, and their subsequent explanations to the American people.
On the night of Sept. 11, a large group of men rushed into the diplomatic compound in Benghazi, firing guns and setting fires. Visiting Ambassador Stevens and computer specialist Sean Smith were killed despite taking cover in a safe room.
Hours later, before dawn, mortar fire hit the CIA roof nearby, killing security contractors Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.
The report found that Libyan military officers loyal to former leader Moammar Gadhafi, whom the U.S. had helped depose, had taken part in rescuing the remaining Americans.
“Not a single wheel of a single U.S. military asset had even turned toward Libya,” Gowdy complained.
U.S. military leaders told the committee they thought an evacuation was imminent, slowing any response.
The committee’s five Democrats denounced the Republicans’ report as “a conspiracy theory on steroids — bringing back long-debunked allegations with no credible evidence whatsoever.”
Democrats released their own report Monday saying that while the State Department’s security measures in Benghazi were “woefully inadequate,” Clinton never personally turned down a request for additional security. The military could not have done anything differently that night to save the lives of the Americans, Democrats said.
Military leaders have testified repeatedly that they didn’t have intelligence information on what was happening or the resources on alert to respond in time to the attacks, which occurred at two separate locations over 13 hours.
The State Department also issued a statement Tuesday, saying that the “essential facts” of the attacks “have been known for some time,” and have been the subject of numerous reviews, including one by an independent review board.
76 responses to “Final Benghazi report: No ‘smoking gun’ pointing to Clinton”
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It was a political hit squad job that failed. Millions wasted by Republicans still out to get Hillary. She was a mediocre to poor Secretary of State but she was not negligent in this affair. Security is handled by lower level managers. New procedures need to be in place and will be.
She was in charge. Do you want a mediocre potus? Please don’t deflect to Trump.
The Department of State has 30,000 employees. Of course it makes perfect sense that the Secretary would know every work task of every employee. Exactly.
How could it be otherwise? You must be a senior executive in a large company, right? All CEOs have 30,000 direct reports.
Hillary was in charge. She didn’t do the job. As a result people died.
She told Huma, I think I screwed up. Let’s go to bed. We’ll figure this out in the morning.
agree..Hillary is not o blame except in the most geenral sense. Is Bush guilty for all the fraud, waste and abuse in Afghanistan and Iraq? Billions of dollars simply vanished at the expense of the American taxpayer
klastri, you are right to suggest that the Secretary of State would not know every work task of 30,000 employees, but you seem not to understand that Ambassadors work directly for the Secretary and she should have known more about Ambassador Stevens’ actions than she professed to know. So, why did the US continue to operate its mission in Benghazi when every other consulate or diplomatic mission had closed because of terrorist activity, why did Ambassador Stevens doing in Benghazi and who sent him there without adequate security? Who was responsible if not the Secretary of State to whom the Ambassador reported?
Ronin006 – Why are you compelled to lie like this? Obviously, ambassadors do not report directly to the Secretary of State. Why would you make up and write something so ridiculous? Can’t you just pick one day – one single 24 hour period – during which you will not lie?
Please …. try to learn something. This is all published data.
I agree. Hillary is not to blame except in the most general sense.
Klastri, I do not know what we are going to do with you. When ambassadors are appointed by the President, the letter of appointment normally says “You will receive your instructions through the secretary of State unless I decide to instruct you directly.” So please, since you seem to know everything about everything, tell me and other readers exactly for whom ambassadors work and report. Check this to see the chain of command: http://www.state.gov/courses/rs401/page_10.htm. It is the State Department Chain of Command for Dummies.
Ronin006 – Have you considered doing research on anything BEFORE commenting? I know that’s a novel concept, but it might help.
There are about 200 Ambassadors – obviously (to most people, anyway) more direct reports than anyone can have. Ambassadors (except the Ambassador to the United Nations) report to the Assistant Secretary of State for one of seven global regions. Those Assistant Secretaries report to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs. That person reports up into someone in the Office of the Secretary (generally one of two Deputy Secretaries) and then to the SoS. Two hundred people couldn’t possibly report to the Secretary of State.
Can you understand that?
All physical security affairs at State – all of them – are managed by Diplomatic Security Service that reports to the Under Secretary for Management. The Secretary of State is not in that reporting line.
You can believe what you want. I don’t care.
Klastri, I still do not know what we are going to do with you. You are quick to call people liars but you never provide the sources of your claims that someone is wrong or a liar. This is excerpt is from http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/rls/dos/436.htm, the official web site of the Department of State:
Organization of the Department of State Abroad
U.S. Missions
To support its relations with other countries and international organizations, the United States maintains diplomatic and consular posts around the world. Under the President’s direction, the Secretary of State is responsible for the overall coordination and supervision of U.S. Government activities abroad. Missions to countries and international organizations are headed by Chiefs of Mission. They are considered the President’s personal representatives and, with the Secretary of State, assist in implementing the President’s constitutional responsibilities for the conduct of U.S. foreign relations.
Klastri, the Secretary of State has the help of many assistant secretaries, deputy secretaries and under secretaries, but not one of them is in the supervisor chain between the ambassadors and the Secretary.
hiLIARy is guilty. She has American Blood on her hands.
This report proves that you’re wrong, and what you’ve been writing for a long time, is wrong.
That won’t stop you, of course. You have your own reality and your own facts. No matter that the Republicans say you’re wrong. You have a vision burned into your mind of what happened and you’re going to stick to it.
kalstri…aka Kurt on Kauai..you are irrelevant to the point of being a joke because you are just plain biased and unreasonable.
Keonigohan – I know you’re obsessed to a bizarre degree about” Kurt on Kauai.” I read some of his old comments after you mentioned him over and over and over and over. He’s a better writer than I am.
Did you date him at some point? You seem very bitter.
klastri…and did I mention you being afflicted with narcissism? I’m straight…I know you’re not.
Guilty of what exactly Keonigohan? So you think this attack would not have happened if she was not SOS?
lol eh boots..how you doing?
Bush I think you mean
allie…taking a page out of klastri/Kurt on Kauai playbook…do you get anything correct?
So you’re saying that leadership means that you don’t have to take responsibility for the actions of the people you’re in charge of? Stuff rolls downhill with you doesn’t it.
Mrs. Clinton took responsibility for the poor work of some of the 30,000 people in the State Department.
What the Republicans, and some on this comment board who have absolutely no idea what they’re talking about, alleged is that Mrs. Clinton was directly responsible for denying security to Ambassador, and then further stopped assistance from responding when the attack began. That was always a lie. This report confirm that the allegation was a lie.
The thing about Klastri is that eh right about Clinton.
Where was Obama (Commander in Chief) on 9/11/2012? Who was the Secretary of State on 9/11/2012? Who was the ranking and only cabinet member in the war room? Bingo.
If Hillary took responsibility for the Benggazi Massacre she wouldn’t be running for Potus.
hiLIARy is a proven LIAR. So is O.
Who isn’t a “liar” in politics? Certainly the Donald has been free with the facts.
lol boots!!! so is your hiLIARy…a tad some too!!
Why exactly do you say she was mediocre to poor? What past Secretary of state would you consider excellent?
A colossal waste of time and effort by a politically driven Republican House. In spite of testimony by hundreds of witnesses who repeated testimony they offered in multiple previous investigations, this election year make-believe dragged on for the sole purpose of sustaining the fantasies of conspiracy theorists like Trump, who only last week repeated the lie that Hillary slept through a 3AM phone call. Unfortunately, there are Democrats and others who understand how time zones work and who also can find Libya on a map. The attack happened in the late afternoon Washington time, while the Sec’y of State was at work. Beginning with the phony assertion of the 3AM call, everything that Gowdy’s committee stitched together after that was a Potemkin Village of lies, perpetuated only for an imagined political advantage.
The massacre may have ended but there was still a lot to address. Nobody knows where Obama was and Hillary went to bed. Like allie said do we want a mediocre potus?
And please don’t deflect to Trump.
You’re lying of course. The record shows that Mrs. Clinton was engaged with DSS during the attack when she was notified.
I know that you routinely lie to support your manufactured argument. But the Republican document just released proves that you are lying.
klastri your spin makes HilLIARy look even worse, she knew what was going on, but she and Obama were just watching while the embassy was being attacked. Then after the attack she came up with a false narrative that it was due to a video. Just calling other posters liars makes you look worse.
klastri – since you are a bonafide Clinton/Democrat apologist (though nothing wrong with that) can you then explain why Clinton and the Obama Admin. attribute what happened in Benghazi as a spontaneous protest in reaction to an internet video??
d_bullfighter – You need to read the report. The murderer that was arrested for the crime explained during interrogation that the riot was sparked by an anti-Muslim video. It’s in the report.
You already made up your mind, so why read the report?
Really klastri? Have you read the report?? I do my research before I make up my mind; I suggest you do likewise. Since you believe and parrot anything this Administration foists upon the American public, I’ll take the liberty to fill you in on the details. Does a lawyer always take at face value the words of a suspected killer as being the truth? I doubt it, so why are you so easily swayed by the words of a murderer? The facts are:
White House Deputy Strategic Communications Adviser Ben Rhodes sent an email on Friday, September 14, 2012, at 8:09 p.m. with the subject line: “RE: PREP CALL with Susan, Saturday at 4:00 pm ET.” The documents show that the “prep” was for Amb. Rice’s Sunday news show appearances to discuss the Benghazi attack. The email lists as a “Goal”: “To underscore that these protests are rooted in and Internet video, and not a broader failure or policy” and “to reinforce the President and Administration’s strength and steadiness in dealing with difficult challenges.”
The pertinent question is whether Clinton and the Obama administration prepared these talking points out of confusion/ignorance of the facts (which demonstrates incompetence) or they deliberately lied to the public. I’ll let Clinton’s own words convict herself:
On September 11, 2012 email, Clinton informed her daughter by email that the attack had been staged by an “Al Qaeda-like group,” rather than as the result of “inflammatory material posted on the Internet.”
Telephone transcripts, on Sept. 12 reveal Clinton calling Egypt’s prime minister Sept. 12 and telling him, “We know that the attack in Libya had nothing to do with the film. It was a planned attack — not a protest.”
d_bullfighter – No, I’m only at Page 211. It’s difficult reading. I’ll be done this week. Are you expecting a book report?
The Republican panel so far agrees with the other investigations that were performed. You’re going to believe whatever you want to believe, no matter what the report says. You’re invested in your manufactured story because you’ve repeated it over and over and over and over again. I couldn’t care less.
Book report klastri? A simple reply would have sufficed but you couldn’t even manage refute my assertions which come from the report. You claim to have read to p.211 but you somehow failed to notice what it says on p.II-45,46:
The Secretary also had a phone call with an Egyptian leader, Prime Minister Hisham Kandil, on the afternoon of September 12. According to the call notes, the Secretary told the Prime Minister the following:
We know that the attack in Libya had nothing to do with the film. It was a planned attack—not a protest. . . . Your [sic] not kidding. Based on the information we saw today we believe the group that claimed responsibility for this was affiliated with al Qaeda. (p.45-46)
Not only did the Secretary tell the Prime Minister “the attack in Libya had nothing to do with the film,” she strengthened the statement by prefacing it with “we know.” Such a definitive declaration made privately to another world leader stands in stark contrast to her speech earlier in the day to the American people where she mentioned the attack—“this vicious behavior”—in the same breath as the video—“inflammatory material posted on the internet.” (p.46)
The report is written in plain English and not at all difficult to read so what’s your problem? Unless, of course, you don’t care about the truth and remain blind to it.
Where was Obama on 9/11/2012?
Looking for an alibi.
If Hillary took responsibility for Benghazi and Lybia she wouldn’t be running for potus.
O & hiLIARy were awake…eyes wide open! Lawlessness is ok…all for POLITICAL GAIN at the expense of American lives. I’d love to hear Amb. Stevens family’s take on this.
His family asked for a thorough investigation, and the truth.
That’s not what you wanted, of course.
klastri…aka Kurt on Kauai…I’ve never seen anyone so biased..you take the cake…along with the frosting lol.
Mediocre is relative. Not sure she would be mediocre. If she can avoid going to war, she could end up being a great president.
Colossal waste of time? If you call the death of 4 brave Americans due to the incompetence of the then Secretary of State HilLIARy a waste then you demean their sacrifice, one that did not have to happen if not for the incompetence of HilLIARy. You and klastri are masters of spin, trying to deflect the responsibility of the tragedy to others in the State Department, shameful really.
Depends on what News media you extract your information from! Because we all know the MSM is performing damage control for dear Hillary. CBS,NBC, CNBC, ABC,CNN…you know the usual suspects. The GOP is merely asking the Public to examine the 800 page Documents with the “Timelines” yourself! You draw you own conclusion. High information know people know that this was a political stunt from the get go,because it was so close to the …… presidential elections. “Waste of time”? Hmmmmmmmm. Only if you’re a Democrat .Or a Waste of Life ,5 lives,Lost!
Sure, that makes sense. The Republicans lied in their report to protect Mrs. Clinton? And they’re doing damage control for Mrs. Clinton?
Exactly!
I’m on Page 135 of the report. So you’re saying that you’re a low information person? You know that you’re going to form opinions without reading it.
Your’e just jealous ,because I’m SMARTER than you. Lawyer? Let me know when you’re on page 800.because even with that? You will still draw your own conclusion. Yes!Damage Control!
Why thank you for noticing that I’m smarter than you. I had noticed that earlier but I’m not crass enough to blurt that out.
THERE IS NO RESPONSABILITY WHEN SOMETHING LIKE THIS OR THE WANOT VILLIAGE
INCIDENT IN AFGHANASTAN ..NO SENIOR AUTHORITY WANTS TO TAKE RESPONSABILITY
WHEN SOMETHING HAPPENS OVERSEAS …
As a Vietnam combat veteran and understanding the chain of command, my question: What happened after President Obama and Secretary Panetta gave the order to move military assests to Lybia some 13 hours before the death of 4 Americans, and nothing moved?
You need to read the report – which you won’t do, of course. It’s in the report in great detail.
Klastri, you say the information why the U.S. Military didn’t roll is in the Report? FYI, it’s not in the Report. For some critical reason, GEN Hamm was left out of the loop to give the Command and insure that the Military did move.
Looks like the military didn’t think that 13 hrs was important. They were counting on osmosis for him to get the order.
Benghazi…Hillary lied and four men died. End of story now back to classified emails Clinton Foundation and the predator in the old White House. Oh but Trump had four bankruptcies.
Klastri, pls go back to page 141 on the discussion between the President and Panetta on the U.S. Military.
klastri confirmed it was the VIDEO in a prior comment, waiting for her/him to reconfirm that assertion again. Kurt…?
You need to read the report. The murderer who was arrested explained during interrogation that they were inflamed by the anti-Muslim video.
But what difference does the truth make? You already made up your mind.
Nice spin…you blamed it on the VIDEO the last time. You are dead wrong miss/bud.
Trump had a great speech and the stock market loves it. The American people are listening.
I got a portion of it…presidential…I’m listening and liking it!
the benghazi massacre occurred during the 2012 obama reelection campaign. obama and hiliar needed to promote an unknown video as the cause of the spontaneous protest and massacre to deflect attention to the failure of obama’s mid-east diplomacy, which was led by hiliar.
even though hiliar knew almost immediately that the benghaze massacre was a planned terrorist attack, hiliar used the film as the cause of the massacre to deflect her failure in managing mid-east politics.
September 11, 2012. Your comment nailed it..on point!
She owns Obama.
Just shows the republicans to be the welfare bums they are. Spend big bucks trying to nail sweet Hillary and what do they come up with? Nothing. Shame they didn’t do an investigation of 9/11 or the other attacks on American embassies during GW’s presidency. Well maybe it was a good thing. Just more wasted money. Let this be a lesson. Don’t bother listening to a party that has abandoned its values and today is only interested in power.
st1d–You got that right. Now they are deflecting attention from HiLIARy’s email scandal and Clinton Foundation before this years election.
Kim Jong-un wants all his wardrobe back from hiLIARy…ALL of them!!
Republicans see to aim at the wrong targets. No wonder they fail so often.
And suddenly this article disappears from Top News on the Home page. Obvious media bias with an agenda!
Yes, of course. Everyone conspires against you. Right.
A Secretary of State innocent of wrong doing of Benghazi attacked? What , if ever, does she knows of the pulse of this grave history? If not, why not? Timing seems favorable for her comes close to Election Day!
Sure, that makes sense. Everyone knows that the Republicans have always helped Mrs. Clinton, so they timed the release of their report to help her again!
You always find things that no one else sees!
He’s the Wizard of Oz.
Republicans have wasted a lot of money on a political attack on Clinton.
A great investment and it pays dividends. “Make America Great Again”
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