Don't Get Burned By The Benghazi Committee's Lies

Media Matters For America

1HOAX: The Obama administration’s first reaction was to sympathize with those who attacked Americans in Benghazi.

TRUTH: This accusation is a distortion of a statement released by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, Egypt, in an attempt to head off violence there on September 11, 2012 – the same day as the attacks in Benghazi. The statement condemned religious insults to Muslims. However, the statement was released before the attacks in Benghazi had even occurred, and the Obama administration disavowed the statement.

2HOAX: The attacks in Benghazi had nothing to do with an anti-Islam video on Youtube.

TRUTH: In September 2012, a trailer for an anti-Islamic movie called Innocence of Muslims set off violent protests in nearly 20 countries around the world, including Egypt. A report by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence stated that some intelligence suggests the attacks in Benghazi came in response to the violence earlier in the day at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, which had been motivated by the video. Furthermore, multiple media outlets have documented that militants involved in the Benghazi attacks had expressed anger about the video.

3HOAX: The Obama administration purposely avoided labeling the Benghazi attacks “terrorism.”

TRUTH: President Obama publicly described the attacks as “acts of terror” three times in the two days after they occurred.

4HOAX: In media appearances, Susan Rice covered up the fact that the Benghazi attacks were terrorism.

TRUTH: The language that Rice used during her appearances on Sunday morning talk shows on September 16 2012, had been drafted and approved by the intelligence community. Her statements that the attacks had been “spontaneously inspired by the protests at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo” accurately conveyed the consensus of the intelligence community – which she cautioned was the “best current assessment,” and not a definitive conclusion.

5HOAX: Hillary Clinton faked having a concussion to avoid testifying about Benghazi.

TRUTH: In December 2012, Clinton caught a stomach virus, became dehydrated, and hit her head as she fainted. The resulting concussion led her to cancel her forthcoming congressional testimony on the attacks. In fact, Clinton had to be admitted to the hospital later that month because a blood clot had formed in her head. She testified before Congress in January 2013.

6HOAX: Hillary Clinton said American lives lost in Benghazi didn’t make any difference.

TRUTH: In January 2013 testimony about the Benghazi attacks, Clinton said that it was more important to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice than to understand their motives. She said, “(T)he 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 and decided they’d go kill some Americans? What difference at this point does it make?”

7HOAX: We don’t know where Obama was on the night of the attacks.

TRUTH: Leon Panetta, the defense secretary in September 2012, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey testified before Congress that they had been with Obama when he was first told of the attacks and that he told them to respond immediately. Dempsey also testified that the White House was engaged with military commanders throughout the incident.

8HOAX: Hillary Clinton was disengaged from events on the night of the attacks.

TRUTH: Clinton testified that on the night of the attacks, she spoke with national security adviser Tom Donilon, then-CIA director David Petraeus, the head of the Libyan National Congress, the intelligence community, the Department of Defense, and President Obama. Gregory Hicks, then the second in command of the U.S. delegation in Libya, testified that he also spoke with Clinton that night.

9HOAX: The Obama administration didn’t use all its military options to save Americans in Benghazi.

TRUTH: Reinforcements were dispatched from within Benghazi and from the embassy in Tripoli, and the forces from Tripoli arrived before the second wave of fighting began. Furthermore, a report by the Senate intelligence committee found that additional military resources could not have provided support in time.

10HOAX: Special Forces troops in Tripoli were given a “stand down” order that prevented them from helping those in need.

TRUTH: The commander of the Special Forces troops told a congressional committee he had never been given a stand-down order. Survivors from Benghazi were on their way to Tripoli, and his unit’s orders were to provide them medical care when they arrived at the Tripoli airport. After his testimony, the Republican-led committee said in a summary of the briefing that news reports about a stand-down order were incorrect.

11HOAX: Hillary Clinton replied to diplomatic cables requesting more security in Benghazi, proving she knew how dangerous it was.

TRUTH: Every State Department cable from Washington — hundreds of thousands of them — bears the secretary of state’s signature, and Clinton testified before Congress that she had not seen the cables related to security in Benghazi.

12HOAX: The Obama administration intimidated a Benghazi whistleblower.

TRUTH: The so-called whistleblower was Greg Hicks, the second in command of the U.S. delegation in Libya during the attacks. Before testifying to Congress, he spoke with investigators from both the State Department’s Accountability Review Board and a Republican member of Congress with a State Department lawyer present, per standard procedure.

13HOAX:The White House edited the talking points Susan Rice used on her September 16 appearances on Sunday morning political talk shows to cover up the fact that there had been a terrorist attack.

TRUTH: The substance of the talking points originated from the intelligence community, and it approved their final form. The only editing done by someone at the White House was changing the word “consulate” to “diplomatic post.”

14HOAX: We don’t know who edited Susan Rice’s talking points.

TRUTH: In May 2013, the White House released 100 pages of emails related to the editing of the talking points. A report by the Senate intelligence committee found that the editing of the emails was a “normal interagency coordination process.”

15HOAX:  Congress can’t get eyewitnesses to testify about Benghazi.

TRUTH: Eyewitnesses have already testified before Congress, including multiple CIA agents who were at the agency’s annex in Benghazi at the time of the attacks.

16HOAX: A British security contractor’s account of his experience during the attacks shows the Obama administration was lying.

TRUTH: The contractor, Dylan Davies, told his story to CBS’ 60 Minutes and was set to publish a book about it through an imprint owned by CBS. Twelve days after the 60 Minutes story aired, CBS pulled the report and canceled his book because of serious doubts about the veracity of his account.

THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE BENGHAZI SELECT COMMITTEE

Ahead of Hillary Clinton’s testimony Today, Correct The Record’s Benghazi Research Center has prepared this authoritative report on Gowdy’s total manipulation of the public trust and misuse of taxpayer funds. From leaking selective information from private interviews, to fundraising off of the four brave Americans who died in the Benghazi tragedy, to leading one of the longest-running and least active select committees in history, Gowdy brazenly ensnared Congress and the media in a political quagmire, all in the obsessive pursuit of damaging Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

Download The Guide  HERE 

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