Rep. Jim Jordan and GOP members of the House Select Committee on the September 11, 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya are highlighting points in the group’s report that explain what they say are lies told to the American people by the Hillary Clinton State Department and President Barack Obama’s administration.
Libya was supposed to be the “crowning jewel” of the foreign policy approach the administration was so committed to. Jordan declared that the administration’s approach was a matter of political expediency 56 days before the 2012 presidential election.
In a joint press conference announcing the release of Benghazi report, Jordan said:
Chairman mentioned that before the attack ended no military assets were headed towards Benghazi. But what did start before the attack was over was the political spin. At 10:08 that night, with Tyrone Woods still on the roof of the annex fighting for his life, Secretary Clinton issues this statement, the official statement on Benghazi, the official statement of our government that evening. Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior as a response to the inflammatory material on the internet. We know that statement was misleading because an hour later she told her daughter, terrorists killed two of our people today. The next day she tells the Egyptian Prime Minister, “we know the film had nothing to do with it. It was a planned attack, not a protest.”
And this public-private contrast continues for days. Publicly telling the American people it was a video inspired protest, privately telling the truth, that it was a terrorist attack. And maybe the best example is from the 14th, same day [White House staffer] Mr. [Ben] Rhodes issues his talking points, but that day we have [then White House Press Secretary] Mr. [Jay] Carney at a press briefing saying this, No information to suggest Benghazi was a pre-planned attack. No information to suggest a pre-planned attack.
That same day, a State Department in Libya official says this, “Benghazi was a well-planned attack.” You couldn’t have a starker contrast than those two statements.
Jordan also noted the failure of what was supposed to be the “crowning jewel” of the Hillary Clinton State Department and the Obama administration when it comes to how to approach foreign policy:
And I think it’s important to remember this, don’t forget the context. Libya was supposed to be the crowning jewel of the Clinton State Department foreign policy and the Obama administration foreign policy. This was their example of how it works. No boots on the ground, oust a dictator, help the Arab Spring. This was supposed to be how it works. In fact, Jake Sullivan sent an email to, one of the things we discovered in our investigation, he talks about leadership, stewardship, ownership of this policy from start to finish. This is something Hillary Clinton pushed for and got done.
But maybe the better one is the email from Sidney Blumenthal. Few days after [Libyan dictator Muammar] Gaddafi has been removed, he sends an email to the Secretary, and he says this is a big moment, you should do a press event, even if it’s in the driveway of your vacation home and he finishes the email with this statement, ‘this is a big moment, you were vindicated, don’t wait, help Cleo now.’ Cleo of course, is the goddess of history.
So they were committed to this. They were invested in this. This was it. This was how it was supposed to work in their administration, in their State Department.
And they were so committed, it didn’t matter that there were 200 security incidents between the time Blumenthal sent the email and when the terrorist attack happens.
It didn’t matter that one diplomatic security agent went to Benghazi, did his service and came back and when he came back he said this, it’s a suicide mission, every-, “everybody there is going to die.”
It didn’t matter than on August 17 of 2012, three and a half weeks before the attack, Beth Jones sends a memo to Secretary Clinton and she uses terms, she talks about the uptick in violence in eastern Libya and talks of urgency, lawlessnes, widespread violence, they, didn’t matter because they were committed to this policy.
And then it happens, then it happens, the terrorists attack and it’s a terrorist attack on September 11, 2012. Days before Vice President Biden had said GM’s alive, [Osama] Bin Laden is dead, the President had this narrative that al Qaeda’s on the run. But now they have this terrorist attack and they have to mislead the American people because it’s 56 days before an election, their legacy’s on the line, and she has the goddess of history looking over her shoulder.
So they mislead the American people.
Jordan and Rep. Mike Pompeo supplemented the full Benghazi report that answered the “what happened,” with their “proposed additional views” because, as Jordan explained during the press conference, they wanted to look at “why did it happen?”
Jordan summarized that he is sure that why it happened was “because of political concerns this administration had.” He said that the evidence “strongly shows that.” He encouraged everyone to read both reports.
Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.