As the right wing continues its efforts to shamefully politicize the deaths of four Americans serving their country, partisan magazine The Weekly Standard published one of the most bizarre spin jobs yet.
Even though Secretary Clinton took responsibility, took action and has been transparent about the tragedy in Benghazi, The Weekly Standard today falsely accused former Secretary Clinton of an attempt to “redirect the questioning” during one of the plethora of hearings on Benghazi from the topic of questions about the lead up to the attack. [The Weekly Standard, 5/30/14]
But what was actually said in the hearing?
“With all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans. Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided that they’d they go kill some Americans? What difference at this point does it make? It is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again,” Clinton said. [Quoted in Huffington Post, 3/29/14]
More than a year after the deaths of four brave Americans serving their country, Republicans’ top priority is dissecting the early intelligence report on what inspired the murderers to kill Americans. What about the other diplomats in the field and their safety? The Weekly Standard seems to agree with the rest of the right wing that those diplomats are a lower priority than partisan politics. One person had the courage to say it wasn’t about political partisan gotcha, but about assessing what happened to make sure it never happens again. It was the same person who took action to prevent it from happening again: Hillary Clinton.
A quick review of the facts:
Secretary Clinton took responsibility. In testimony to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Secretary Clinton stated: “As secretary, I have no higher priority and no greater responsibility. As I have said many times, 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.” [Sec. Clinton testimony, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, 1/23/13]
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. She took these steps in order to ensure a tragedy like this never happens again.
Secretary Clinton was fully transparent. Hillary 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. [Sec. Clinton testimony, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, 1/23/13]