Issa, Republicans: Obama's Benghazi Attack Spin 'Disturbing, Criminal, Nixonian'

Issa, Republicans: Obama's Benghazi Attack Spin 'Disturbing, Criminal, Nixonian'

Thursday, 01 May 2014 12:03 PM

By Newsmax Wires

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/US-attacks-Libya-politics/2014/05/01/id/568923/?ns_mail_uid=16189840&ns_mail_job=1567401_05012014&promo_code=mtnzhbpn

Republican lawmakers on Thursday compared President Barack Obama's White House to the secretive Nixon administration, denouncing its response to the 2012 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya.

On Wednesday a conservative group published a White House email it had obtained after a legal challenge and which critics say shows an attempt to put a political spin on the deadly assault.

In the email, Obama's deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes tells Susan Rice — then the U.S. envoy to the United Nations — to blame the attack on local anger in Benghazi over an anti-Muslim video on the Internet.

It has since become clear the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the mission — which cost the lives of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens — was planned by armed militants.

In the email, obtained by Judicial Watch and dated Sept. 14, 2012, Rhodes laid out talking points and goals for Rice in her planned appearances on several major U.S. talk shows the next day.

She was asked "to underscore that these protests are rooted in an Internet video, not a broader failure of policy."

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Wednesday after the Rhodes email was first made public that it referred to protests in the Arab world as a whole, and not specifically to the Benghazi attack.

But the attack and Rice's media appearances took place at the height of Obama's successful re-election campaign — a campaign in which he made great play of having put al-Qaida on the back foot.

Republican lawmakers accuse the White House of having tried to cover up the organized nature of the attack, carried out by Libyan Islamist extremists with suspected al-Qaida ties or sympathies.

The administration, in part through Rice's early public statements, said the attack was provoked by an anti-Islamic video posted on YouTube. But this version of events was quickly proven false.

Congress launched hearings and thousands of documents were turned over, but the email from Rhodes had not been revealed, despite requests from the House of Representatives.

"It is disturbing and perhaps criminal that these documents, that documents like these were hidden by the Obama administration," said Republican Rep. Darrell Issa of California, who chairs a House committee charged with overseeing and auditing the White House.

"The American people have learned that you cannot believe what the White House says, you cannot believe what the spokespeople say, and you cannot believe what the president says," Issa said.

"The facts are coming out that in fact, this administration has knowingly withheld documents pursuant to congressional subpoenas in violation of any reasonable transparency or historical precedent, at least since Richard Milhous Nixon."

Nixon resigned as president in disgrace in 1974 after the Watergate scandal broke over illegal activities, and attempted cover-ups, by his administration.

Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah became visibly angry in a hearing Thursday as he described how it was clear the White House was the source of the claim that a video was responsible for that attack.

Noting that earlier investigations revealed that military commanders became aware of what was actually happening, Chaffetz asked retired U.S. Air Force Brigadier Gen. Robert Lovell: "How quickly did you come to the conclusion that you believed they were al-Qaida affiliates or al-Qaida themselves involved and engaged in this attack?"

"Very, very soon," Lovell replied. "When we were still in the very early, early hours of this activity."

"Was it a video?" Chaffetz probed.

"No, sir," Lovell replied.

Lovell was monitoring the attack from U.S. Africa Command's headquarters in Germany. He says it was clear the attack was hostile action.

"The scandal that is here, that some choose to ignore as a phony scandal, is the fact that the CIA, the CIA station chief, the military themselves — you have the person sitting in front of us who's the head of intelligence — he's looking at the intelligence," Chaffetz exclaimed. "They come to the conclusion that it's Ansar al-Sharia."

"And then you also have the Department of State telling the Libyans that it was Ansar al-Sharia," he continued. "None of them think it's a video. None of them."

"The military, the CIA, the CIA station chief, the State Department, all of them; the facts at the time, Mr. Chairman, the facts do not point to a video," Chaffetz concluded. "That only comes from the White House."

The White House, meanwhile, continued to deny that the email was about Benghazi.

"It was explicitly not about Benghazi," Carney told journalists during his daily briefing in the White House. "It was about the overall situation in the region, the Muslim world, where you saw protests outside of embassy facilities across the region, including in Cairo, Sana'a, Khartoum and Tunis."

South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham called the email a "smoking gun" that "shows political operatives in the White House working to create a political narrative at odds with the facts."

The intelligence community compiled its own talking points for members of Congress that suggested the Benghazi attack stemmed from protests in Cairo and elsewhere over the anti-Islamic video rather than an assault by extremists.

Rice used those talking points during her appearances on Sunday news shows following the attack. A CIA official later said he had deleted from the talking points the references to terrorism warnings to avoid showing up the State Department, not for political reasons.

Administration officials later corrected their description of the attack, and Obama himself referred to "act of terror" in several speeches in the two days following the attack, yet also referred to the video at times in other remarks. On Sept. 20, Carney said it was "self-evident" that it had been a terrorist attack, but Obama didn't use the term "act of terrorism" for some time.

The email's subject line reads, "Prep call with Susan: Saturday at 4:00 p.m. EST." Among the list of goals was "to underscore that these protests are rooted in an Internet video, and not a broader policy failure." The email goes on to list a half-dozen points of discussion, including Obama's actions "since we began to see protests in response to this Internet video" and administration response to security concerns around the world, relations with governments in the region, the U.S. condemnation of the anti-Islamic video and efforts to have other world leaders speak out against violence.

"This document, as I said, was explicitly not about Benghazi, but about the general dynamic in the Arab — or in the Muslim — world at the time," Carney said Wednesday. "So I would also point out that the document itself states explicitly that Ambassador Rice is not on the Sunday shows to talk politics. This was part of our effort to explain our views both as a matter of policy and as a matter of what was happening on the ground with regards to the protests that were under way around the region."

Asked why the Rhodes email was only now being released, Carney said the email was not about the attack and thus was not included in the thousands of pages of material about the attack that had been turned over to investigators.

In an interview Tuesday with Newsmax, Graham said: "Their goal was not to tell the truth about what actually happened ... They did not want to provide the best information available. Instead, we were provided the most beneficial political story for President Obama."

Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma told Newsmax: "This was a cover-up, and these emails only continue to confirm my belief."

In a statement Wednesday, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio accused the White House of being evasive and not cooperating with House efforts to investigate the attack and the U.S. response.

"Four Americans lost their lives in Benghazi, and this White House has gone to extraordinary lengths to mislead, obstruct, and obscure what actually took place," Boehner said. "I am appalled to learn that the administration concealed relevant documents after the House subpoenaed all emails related to the misleading talking points.

"When four Americans die at the hands of terrorists, the families of the victims — and the American people — deserve the full, unvarnished truth and nothing less. Instead, this White House been callously dismissive of our efforts to get answers."

Benjamin J. Rhodes

Benjamin J. Rhodes is the deputy national security adviser for the Barack Obama administration, David Rhodes’s brother, a co-author of Without Precedent, and was a special assistant to the president at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (think tank).

Note: David Rhodes is Benjamin J. Rhodes’s brother, and the president of the CBS News.

William M. Daley is a contributor for the CBS News, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was the chief of staff for the Barack Obama administration.

Walter L. Cronkite was an anchorman for the CBS News, and a member of the Bohemian Club.

George H.W. Bush talks about the New World Order; Walter Cronkite said he is glad to sit at the Right Hand of Satan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd2M4S5D1uc

George H.W. Bush is a member of the Bohemian Club, and a member of the Burning Tree Club.

Richard M. Nixon (Richard Milhous Nixon) was an honorary member of the Bohemian Club, the president for the Richard M. Nixon administration, and a member of the Burning Tree Club.

Bob Schieffer is the chief Washington correspondent for the CBS News, and a member of the Burning Tree Club.

John A. Boehner is a member of the Burning Tree Club, and the speaker for the U.S. House of Representatives, and Barry S. Jackson was his chief of staff.

Barry S. Jackson was John A. Boehner’s chief of staff, and is a trustee at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (think tank).

Fred P. Hochberg is a trustee at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (think tank), and the chair, Export-Import Bank for the Barack Obama administration.

Jack Valenti was a member of the Burning Tree Club, and a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think tank).

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Thelma Duggin is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and a trustee at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (think tank).

Jane Lakes Harman is the president & CEO for the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (think tank), and a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).

James S. Crown is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Lester Crown was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Commercial Club of Chicago, Members Directory A-Z (Past Research)

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

http://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2013/12/commercial-club-of-chicago-members.html

Valerie B. Jarrett is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, the senior adviser for the Barack Obama administration, and her great uncle is Vernon E. Jordan Jr.

Cyrus F. Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank).

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), a senior counsel for Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, was a member of the Iraq Study Group, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Lee H. Hamilton is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a co-author of Without Precedent, a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, was a co-chair for the Iraq Study Group, and the president & director for the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (think tank).

Thomas R. Nides is the chairman for the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (think tank), and his executive assistant was Thomas S. Foley.

Thomas S. Foley was Thomas R. Nides executive assistant, a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, and a partner at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP.

Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP was a funder for the Center for American Progress.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Center for American Progress.

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, and a supporter for the Center for American Progress.

Spencer P. Boyer was a director of international law and diplomacy at the Center for American Progress, and is a visiting senior fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (think tank).

Melody C. Barnes was the EVP for the Center for American Progress, the domestic policy council, director for the Barack Obama administration, a trustee at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (think tank), and is Barack Obama’s golf partner.

Carnegie Corporation of New York was a funder for the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (think tank).

Andrew Carnegie was the founder of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the founder of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

David A. Hamburg is the president emeritus for the Carnegie Corporation of New York, an adviser for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), and his daughter is Margaret A. Hamburg.

Margaret A. Hamburg is David A. Hamburg’s daughter, the commissioner for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and a VP for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank).

Mark B. McClellan was the commissioner for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) was a funder for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank).

Jessica Tuchman Mathews is a director at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), was a board member for the International Crisis Group,

an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Ed Griffin’s interview with Norman Dodd in 1982

(The investigation into the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace uncovered the plans for population control by involving the United States in war)

http://www.illuminati-news.com/110106a.htm

Susan E. Rice was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), the former U.S. ambassador to UN for the Barack Obama administration, and is the White House national security adviser for the Barack Obama administration.

Strobe Talbott is the president of the Brookings Institution (think tank), was the deputy secretary for the U.S. Department of State, William J. Clinton’s roommate at Oxford, and an editor for Time magazine.

James Carney was the Washington Bureau chief for Time magazine, and is the press secretary for the Barack Obama administration.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank), and the Aspen Institute (think tank).

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, and is a board member for the International Crisis Group.

Thomas R. Pickering is a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a co-chair for the International Crisis Group, was a trustee at the Carnegie Corporation of New York, a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and the chairman of review board that investigated in 2013 the 2012 attack on U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Carnegie Corporation of New York was a funder for the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (think tank).

J. Christopher Stevens was killed in the 2012 attack on U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and was the U.S. ambassador for Libya.

Muammar Abu Minyar Al-Qadhafi was the leader of Libya, and said he loved Condoleezza Rice & kept scrapbook of her photos.

Condoleezza Rice was the secretary for the U.S. Department of State, Muammar Abu Minyar Al-Qadhafi said he loved her & kept scrapbook of her photos, is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), an overseer at the International Rescue Committee, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think tank), and the International Rescue Committee.

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, and is a co-chair, national finance council at Ready for Hillary.

J. Steve Mostyn is a national finance council member at Ready for Hillary, and was a contributor for Priorities USA Action.

Priorities USA Action was a super PAC supporting the 2012 Barack Obama presidential campaign, and is supporting the 2016 Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign.

Hillary Rodham Clinton is a potential candidate for the 2016 Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign, a principal at the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, and was the secretary of state for the Barack Obama administration.

Hillary Clinton To Be Subpoenaed For Benghazi Investigation

Robert Rich

January 14, 2014 9:46am PST

http://www.mrconservative.com/2014/01/30442-hillary-clinton-to-be-subpoenaed-for-benghazi-investigation

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

George Soros is a founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, a co-chair, national finance council at Ready for Hillary, and a board member for the International Crisis Group.

Thomas R. Pickering is a co-chair for the International Crisis Group, was the chairman of review board that investigated in 2013 the 2012 attack on U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and a U.S. ambassador for Israel.

J. Christopher Stevens was killed in the 2012 attack on U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and was the U.S. ambassador for Libya.

Daniel C. Kurtzer was U.S. ambassador for Israel, a professor at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and a trustee at the American University in Cairo.

Benjamin J. Rhodes was a special assistant to the president at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (think tank), is David Rhodes’s brother, a co-author of Without Precedent, and the deputy national security adviser for the Barack Obama administration.