KEY POINTS:
- A two-year investigation into Benghazi by the Republican-led House Intelligence Committee, declassified Thursday, proved right-wing conspiracy theorists to be flat wrong and their attacks to be baseless on the issue.
- The committee’s report debunks past and ongoing right-wing attacks on Hillary Clinton and further proves that the right wing is playing politics on the backs of dead Americans to try and score political points.
- The report adds to the extensive reporting already completed by numerous committees. It concludes that no deliberate wrongdoing occurred. [Fiscal Times, 8/4/14]
- According to members of the committee:
- The committee determined that there was no deliberate wrongdoing by the Obama Administration in the aftermath of the Benghazi attack. [SF Gate, 8/1/14]
- The committee concluded there was no intelligence failure before the attack. [Fiscal Times, 8/4/14]
- The committee found that no stand-down order was issued and no military assets were withheld. [Fiscal Times, 8/4/14]
MEDIA REACTION:
- “This isn’t exactly blowing up on your television screen right now, is it? Further evidence — as if any was needed — that the media devote far more attention to accusations of scandal than to subsequent reports demonstrating that there wasn’t actually a scandal.” [Dylan Byers, Politico, 8/4/14]
- “After two years of investigation, it found no evidence to buttress any of the conspiracy theories surrounding the Sept. 11, 2012, attack that killed Chris Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, and three other Americans.In short, all of the things that were alleged to have happened didn’t happen.” [Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post, 8/4/14]
- “Ruppersberger called the report ‘a bipartisan, factual, definitive report on what the Intelligence Community did and did not do.’ And here’s the kicker: It was ‘adopted unanimously and sent to the Intelligence Community for a declassification review.’ Unanimously, by a committee made up of 12 Republicans and nine Democrats.” [Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post, 8/4/14]
- “Of course, this will most likely have no bearing on that special Benghazi committee authorized three months ago by the House and headed by Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.). As Steve Benen at msnbc.com reports, there have been eight separate investigations into the Libyan attacks. Not one has uncovered the rumored (and hoped-for) cover-up. That’s because there isn’t one. Please proceed, Rep. Gowdy.” [Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post, 8/4/14]
- “Yet the broad conclusion he outlined — that while the administration botched its initial talking points due to conflicting intelligence, it was not hiding some big explosive scandal — further undercuts the GOP’s claims to the contrary. A bipartisan Senate report released in January similarly found that there was no evidence of a cover-up.” [The Week, 8/4/14]
- “Nevertheless, House Republicans are still pressing ahead with a separate investigation into the attack. And though House Democrats have agreed to participate in it, they have branded the investigation a ‘political stunt’ timed, coincidentally, to align with the midterm elections.” [The Week, 8/4/14]
- “That’s not surprising, because based on Ruppersberger’s account, the bipartisan, unanimous Intelligence Committee report — compiled with complete access to witnesses, documents, etc. — definitively refutes every single right-wing conspiracy theory spun about Benghazi. No Republican wants to be the carrier of that message to his fellow party members.” [Jay Bookman, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 8/5/14]
- “Its findings also put the still-pending select investigative committee headed by U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy in an interesting little quandary. Its first hearing has been scheduled for early September, timed perfectly to start getting the base all fired up for the November midterms. I very much doubt that Gowdy will uncover evidence that the House Intelligence Committee overlooked, and the committee’s vote to release its report suggests that it too is confident that it won’t be embarrassed by later revelations.” [Jay Bookman, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 8/5/14]
- “In effect, that reduces Gowdy’s ‘investigation’ into a highly partisan spin operation that attempts to repackage the truth into something that sounds much worse than it actually is. Then again, that pretty much epitomizes what ‘Benghazi!!!!!’ has been all along.” [Jay Bookman, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 8/5/14]
THE FACTS:
- Secretary Clinton was fully transparent. Secretary Clinton fully and publicly answered questions before Congress. She appointed an independent board to review what happened and publicly announced and began implementation of all 29 of the board’s recommendations. And as she testified, of the 19 Accountability Review Boards that have been held since 1988 only two have been made public, making this one of the most transparent internal reviews in State Department history.
- 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 Accountability Review Board before leaving the State Department. She took these steps in order to ensure a tragedy like this never happens again.
- Secretary Clinton took responsibility: In interviews, congressional testimony and now, in her book, Secretary Clinton took responsibility repeatedly. She was determined to leave the State Department and our country safer, stronger, and more secure.
- The Republicans have politicized the tragedy in Benghazi so much that now the American people don’t know what to believe, even though it has been investigated exhaustively. The investigations into Benghazi has 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.
- Yet none of these investigations have yielded any evidence contrary to Secretary Clinton’s words and actions.