As Secretary Clinton’s new book, “Hard Choices,” prepares to hit shelves, the right-wing anti-Hillary SuperPAC American Rising has taken on a wild-eyed appearance of frantic operatives saying and doing anything to stop the groundswell of Americans looking to Hillary Clinton to lead us into the future. Shamefully, these extreme right-wing operatives are making desperate attempts to revise history, brazenly rewriting widely reported facts. They did it again last night. And, again, we correct the record and say shame:
RIGHT-WING ATTACK: “Instead of taking responsibility for her mistakes on Benghazi, Clinton points fingers.”
REALITY: Sec. Clinton emphatically stated months ago, “As I have said many times since September 11th, I take responsibility, and nobody is more committed to getting this right.” “We wanted to be sure that whatever these independent, non- partisan boards found, would be made available to the Congress, and to the American people. Because as I have said many times since September 11th, I take responsibility, and nobody is more committed to getting this right. I am determined to leave the State Department and our country safer, stronger, and more secure. Now, taking responsibility meant not only moving quickly in those first uncertain hours and days to respond to the immediate crisis, but also to make sure we were protecting our people and posts in high- threat areas across the region and the world.” [Clinton testimony, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, 1/23/13] No matter the amount of political spin from the right, the facts remain clear. Secretary Clinton took responsibility, she took action to make sure this tragedy didn’t happen again, and she’s been transparent about what happened in 2011.
Secretary Clinton took responsibility: In interviews, testimony and in her book, Secretary Clinton has taken responsibility repeatedly. She was determined to leave the State Department and our country safer, stronger, and more secure.
Secretary Clinton took action: Secretary Clinton appointed a non-partisan, independent Accountability Review Board to review what happened and began the process of implementing the 29 recommendations put forth by the ARB before leaving the State Department. She took these steps in order to ensure a tragedy like this never happens again.
Secretary Clinton was fully transparent: Secretary Clinton fully and publicly answered questions before Congress. The report of the Accountability Review Board is just the second to be made public, making it one of the most transparent internal reviews in State Department history. In addition to a House Select Committee, eight congressional committees have participated in the investigations into the Benghazi tragedy, which have included more than 50 senior level staff briefings, 13 public hearings, at least 3 independent/bipartisan reports, dozens of interviews, and the disclosure of more than 25,000 pages of documents.