KEY POINTS:
- This weekend, both the Washington Post and The Des Moines Register editorial boards were among the latest to declare that the right wing’s conspiracy theories about the Benghazi tragedy have all been debunked.
- A two-year investigation into the Benghazi tragedy by the Republican-led House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence proved right-wing conspiracy theorists to be flat wrong and their attacks to be baseless.
- The committee’s report was released on November 21 by Chairman Mike Rogers (R-MI), and Ranking Member Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD).
- The 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 in an attempt to score political points.
- The report adds to the extensive reporting already completed by the ten congressional committees involved in investigating Benghazi.
| House Judiciary | “Five Chairman” Interim Report on Benghazi Investigation | 4/23/2013 |
| House Armed Services | The Security Failures of Benghazi | 10/10/2012 |
| House Foreign Affairs | Benghazi and Beyond: What Went Wrong on September 11, 2012 and How to Prevent it from Happening at other Frontline Posts | 11/15/2012 |
| House Intelligence | The Benghazi Talking Points and Michael J. Morell’s Role in Shaping the Administration’s Narrative | 4/2/2014 |
| House Oversight | Reviews of the Benghazi Attack and Unanswered Questions | 9/19/2013 |
| Senate HSGA | Flashing Red: A Special Report On The Terrorist Attack At Benghazi | 12/30/2012 |
| Senate Intelligence | Hearing on the Attacks in Benghazi | 11/15/2012 |
| Senate Foreign Relations | Benghazi: The Attacks and the Lessons Learned (HRC Testimony) | 1/23/2013 |
| Senate Armed Services | Attack on U.S. Facilities in Benghazi, Libya | 2/7/2013 |
| Benghazi Select Committee | Benghazi Attack and Diplomatic Security | 9/17/2014 |
- It concludes that there was no wrongdoing by Obama administration officials. [AP, 11/21/14]
- The final report made the following conclusions:
- There was no intelligence failure before the attack. [CNN, 11/22/14]
- No stand-down order was issued. [CNN, 11/22/14]
- The administration did not intentionally mislead the public about the details surrounding the attacks. [New York Times, 11/22/14]
- According to David Brock, “The Republican committee report should close the case….If the scandal persists into 2016, it will only be for partisan reasons.” [New York Times, 11/22/14]
MEDIA REACTION:
- “A report released late Friday about the fatal 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, left Republicans in the same position they have been in for two years: with little evidence to support their most damning critiques of how the Obama administration, and then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, responded to the attacks.” [New York Times, 11/22/14]
- “Members of the Republican Party have made the Benghazi disaster even more difficult to comprehend by advancing a series of bizarre conspiracy theories intended to besmirch the Obama administration… Now, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, chaired by outgoing Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) and with Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) as ranking minority member, has published a sober report after a two-year investigation. The report looks primarily at the performance of the intelligence community, but it also concludes that many of the Republican accusations are simply not true.” [Washington Post Editorial Board,11/29/14]
- “Rather than malfeasance or incompetence, the House intelligence committee says that many Americans performed courageously in the attack. Officials from State, Defense and the CIA did what they could to save lives, making ‘reasonable tactical decisions about how to respond to the attacks.’” [Washington Post Editorial Board,11/29/14]
- “’There was neither a stand down order nor a denial of available air support, and no American was left behind,’ the panel concluded. The panel found that there was ‘no evidence of an intelligence failure’ prior to the attack — the CIA did not have tactical warning that it was imminent.” [Washington Post Editorial Board, 11/29/14]
- “The House is planning yet another investigation, which will be the eighth into these events. This seems superfluous.” [Washington Post Editorial Board, 11/29/14]
- “This week’s record-correcting news comes from the Republican-controlled committee in the U.S. House of Representatives that found nothing much to fault the administration for in the 2012 attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.” [The Des Moines Register Editorial Board, 11/28/14]
- “The scandal launched numerous congressional investigations, including a big one by the House Intelligence Committee. The committee released its report last week, concluding that the CIA and U.S. military ‘responded appropriately to the attacks,’ according to the Washington Post, and dismissed allegations that the administration ‘blocked rescue attempts during the assault or sought to mislead the public afterward.’” [The Des Moines Register Editorial Board, 11/28/14]
- “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 attentionto 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]
- “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]
- “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 took responsibility: In interviews, testimonyand 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 appointeda nonpartisan, 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 to strengthen embassy security.
- Secretary Clinton was fully transparent: Secretary Clinton fullyand 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.
- The Benghazi tragedy has been investigated exhaustively, costing taxpayers millions of dollars to repeat the same investigations over again. Ten different congressional committees have participated in investigating the Benghazi tragedy. They have held more than 50 senior level staff briefings, 14 public hearings, at least 3 independent/bipartisan reports, dozens of interviews, and the disclosure of more than 25,000 pages of documents. The Department of Defense reported that these efforts have cost the taxpayers millions of dollars and thousands of man-hours. The House Select Committee on Benghazi is expected to cost taxpayers more than $3 million.