(Blaze) United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice has denied she tried to mislead Congress about the assault on the U.S. Consulate in Libya in calling it a “spontaneous” protest, saying she was acting on the best information she had.

In a letter to Republican senators released Friday, Rice said she “consistently qualified, in some instances twice, the information I provided as preliminary” when she went on television and said the attack on the consulate was the result of an anti-Muslim film. U.S. officials subsequently labeled the Sept. 11 assault that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans an act of terrorism linked to Al-Qaeda-affiliated groups.

“In my Sept. 16 Sunday show appearances, I was asked to provide the administration’s latest understanding of what happened in Benghazi,” Rice wrote. “In answering, I relied solely and squarely on the information the intelligence community provided to me and other senior U.S. officials, including through the daily intelligence briefings that present the latest reporting and analysis to policy makers. This information represented the intelligence community’s best, current assessment as of the date of my television appearances, and I went out of my way to ensure it was consistent with the information that was being given to Congress.”

On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Rice said the “best information at present” indicated the attack in Benghazi, Libya was a “spontaneous reaction” to the film.  (read more)