The Weekly Standard’s Stephen Hayes is reporting that several more ‘whistleblowers’ want to come forward to testify under oath about Benghazi. The Blaze also reports:
[…] Joseph diGenova, attorney for acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Counterterrorism Mark Thompson, did not specify how many new witnesses there were, but said they had been “on the ground” and “in the fight” during the September assault that left four Americans dead. Thompson was one of three whistleblowers who went before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday. (link)
(Via Mediaite) NBC’s Lisa Myers told panelists on The Morning Joe yesterday that Benghazi is starting to worry Democrats. NBC Reporter Kelly O’Donnell read from portions of emails in which high ranking State Department officials coordinated with the CIA to alter the official talking points on the Benghazi attack to remove any references to prior warnings or Islamic terrorism.
“This is quite the window into what is usually the hush-hush process about how to deal with these types of attacks and the spin that irrevocably comes afterwards,” NBC reporter Luke Russert opined. (more…)
Many people have noted the general discomfort yesterday exhibited by Jay Carney as he twisted himself into contortions while using seemingly inexhaustible obfuscation.
However, what is lesser known was the backstory prior to the “official” briefing.
The originally scheduled White House press briefing was supposed to take place at 12:30pm. However, just before start time, the ABC exclusive report containing the secret Benghazi e-mails hit the wire…. The White House delayed the briefing til 1:45pm and pulled select media in for a closed “off record” briefing.
Then word hit of the “propaganda ‘off the record’ briefing”, and the White House pushed it back further, until 3:15pm… Getting all their Ducks in a row. The Huffington Post reports on the fiasco: (more…)
The George Zimmerman case was not a fight we chose, it was a fight that chose us. We wanted to find the truth, the opposition wanted to hide the truth – such is the nature of the conflict comprised.
That said, the serious issues at hand are far greater than a product now defined as George Zimmerman. However, the ideological argument is always augmented with the consideration that one man’s freedom does actually lie in the balance.
What George Zimmerman ‘the product’ is to the Professional Black Grievance Industry, albeit under the auspices of ‘civil rights and wrongful death’ protestations, is not dissimilar to Nakoula Basseley Nakoula and what he was for the Obama administration.
Both Nakoula and Zimmerman are tools, representative products, needed to advance a claim. The merit of the claim is tied intrinsically into the narrative that each product represents for those who seek to use it. (more…)
White House spokesperson – Jay Carney TODAY
WASHINGTON DC – The State Department contributed to heavily editing talking points surrounding the attacks that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans in Libya, leading to the removal of references to terror groups and CIA warnings about threats in the region, according to emails and documents obtained by ABC News.
The ABC News report says that the White House and State Department were informed by intelligence officials that the CIA was aware of potential threats to the Libyan consulate from terror groups before the attacks. But the report said references to those threats were removed from the final version of the talking points used by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice because of pressure from the State Department.
According to the network, “12 different versions of the talking points” indicate extensive editing was done after they were first drafted by the CIA.
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Rice appeared on Sunday news shows following the Sept. 11, 2012 attacks and argued they were a spontaneous reaction to a video deemed offensive to Islam. The administration later admitted Rice’s claim was made with insufficient intelligence, and labeled the event an act of terror. (more…)
ABC News obtained an ad the Republican National Committee (RNC) made last fall and approved to air in the final weeks of the presidential campaign. But they never used it…..
A source familiar with the creation of the ad says the RNC leadership approved the ad but it was scrapped at the last minute because of objections from the Romney campaign, which was concerned the ad would distract from Romney’s efforts to focus on the economy.
Romney was too afraid to win?
We’re reviewing notes from the Benghazi Hearings but wanted to put the initial media take together for review: This is the Greg Hicks portion – including his statement for the record recounting his experience on the day/night of Sept 11th 2012
Today at 11:30am Eastern, the Congressional Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will hold another hearing on the Benghazi Terrorist Attack of 9/11/12.
Three witness testimonies are expected:
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Mr. Mark Thompson
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism
US Department of State -
Mr. Gregory Hicks
Foreign Service Officer and former Deputy Chief of Mission/Chargé d’Affairs in Libya
US Department of State -
Mr. Eric Nordstrom
Diplomatic Security Officer and former Regional Security Officer in Libya
US Department of State
The Hearing will be live-streamed from Washington DC and is Available HERE – it should also be carried live on CSPAN
If you are watching today please share your thoughts and opinions in the comment section. In addition we will update throughout the day as testimony and questioning reveal any details of the crisis and White House cover-up that followed.