#2: Despite Being Told It Was A Terrorist Attack, Clinton Blamed The Attack On An Unrelated YouTube Video
SPIN: In The Benghazi Hoax, Brock Argues That It Made Sense For Officials In Washington To Assume The Attack In Benghazi Was The Result Of A Protest Stemming From The Offensive Video. "News of the Cairo statement began to circulate through the media not long before the first news flashes out of Benghazi, where the shots that information officer Smith had first reported were devolving into a noisy attack as a large, growing fire illuminated the sky. The implication seemed clear at the time: The protests over the YouTube video had deteriorated and spread, the to embassy wall that had been breached in Egypt to an all-out attack in the neighboring Libya." (David Brock and Ari-Rabin Havt, The Benghazi Hoax, 10/21/13)
FACT: On The Night Of The Attack, Former Deputy Chief Of Mission In Libya Gregory Hicks Told Leaders In Washington That The Consulate Was Under A Terrorist Attack, Saying "I Did Use The Word Attack. That There Were At Least 20 Armed Intruders In The Compound." ABC'S GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: "Months earlier the State Department had forged an agreement that in the event of an attack on the vulnerable Benghazi Mission, Security personnel would response from a nearby facility called The Annex, run by the CIA. I know that you can't say so, but we know it was a CIA facility, and we know that the CIA facility was getting protection and more security than the diplomatic facility." FORMER DEPUTY CHIEF OF MISSION IN LIBYA GREGORY HICKS: "The numbers are clear about twice as many in terms of trained security providers." STEPHANOPOULOS: "What did you tell Washington?" HICKS: "I called Washington right after I talked to the Annex Chief and I told them that the consulate was under attack. That the..." STEPHANOPOULOS: "You used the word attack?" HICKS: "I did use the word attack. That there were at least 20 armed intruders in the compound and that help was on the way from the Annex." (ABC's "This Week," 9/9/13)
Hicks Dismissed An Anti-Islamic Film And Related Protest That The Administration Initially Blamed For The Attack As A "Non-Event" Adding "We Had Heard Nothing About Protests." STEPHANOPOULOS: "Had you heard anything earlier in the day about any kind of protest or were you worried at all because of these reports of this video?" HICKS: No it was a non-event, the video, in Libya. And we had heard nothing about protests. The building had been set on fire by the attackers and our Diplomatic Security Agents there were heavily outnumbered." (ABC's "This Week," 9/9/13)
Hicks Testified That He Spoke Directly With Clinton That Night. HICKS: "During the night, I am in touch with Washington keeping them posted of what's happening in Tripoli and to the best of my knowledge what I am being told in Benghazi. I think at about 2 p.m. the - 2 a.m., sorry, the Secretary of State Clinton called me along with her senior staff were all on the phone, and she asked me what was going on. And, I briefed her on developments." (Gregory Hicks, Hearing, U.S. House of Representatives, Government Oversight And Reform Committee, 5/8/13)
Yet Days Later, At A Ceremony Bringing Home The Remains Of The Americans Who Were Killed In The Attack And In Accordance With The Obama Administration's Misleading Spin, Clinton Blamed The "Awful Internet Video" For The Attack. CLINTON: "This has been a difficult week for the State Department and for our country. We've seen the heavy assault on our post in Benghazi that took the lives of those brave men. We've seen rage and violence directed at American embassies over an awful internet video that we had nothing to do with. It is hard for the American people to make sense of that because it is senseless, and it is totally unacceptable." (Secretary Hillary Clinton, Remarks At The Transfer of Remains Ceremony to Honor Those Lost In Attacks In Benghazi, Libya Andrews Air Force Base, MD, 9/14/12)
REALITY: It Was Reasonable To Believe The Terrorist Attack Came In Response To The Video
The Benghazi Smear Machine Fights Back | Research | Media Matters for America
