Thursday, September 19, 2013

The Benghazi Testimony The Conservative Media Will Not Dare Show You

MMFA

Florida Representative Alan Grayson used his opportunity at today's House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Benghazi to dismantle many of the myths spread by the conservative media.
Here are just some of the myths his line of questioning debunked:
Conservative media figures have claimed Ambassador Chris Stevens only went to Benghazi under orders from then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Jeff Kuhner of the Washington Times went so far as to say Clinton "sent him on a suicide mission. Mrs. Clinton has American blood on her hands."
Grayson's questioning of Patrick Kennedy, Under Secretary of State for Management, debunked this myth:
GRAYSON: Who decided that Ambassador Stevens go to Benghazi on September 11, 2012?
KENNEDY: It was the Ambassador's decision, sir.
GRAYSON: Now was Secretary Clinton responsible in any way for reviewing and approving the in-country movements of U.S. ambassadors, either Ambassador Stevens or anyone else?
KENNEDY: No, sir.
Additionally Grayson elicited testimony from Kennedy calling into question conservative myths about security at the Benghazi compound:
GRAYSON: Did the Ambassador, when he went to Benghazi, have a normal security detail in accordance with the State Department procedures and rules at that time?
KENNEDY: Yes, sir. He had two diplomatic security special agents who accompanied him from Tripoli to Benghazi.
[...] 
GRAYSON: Was there any money that was appropriated for the purpose of improving that post that was unspent at that time?
KENNEDY: No sir, we were -- there was no specific money appropriated for Benghazi. We were simply taking money from other locations. But all the requests that they put forward as I mentions save one -- which is the guard towers which were determined to be unnecessary and potentially too attention getting, we -- all their requests were fulfilled.
Furthermore Grayson's questioning of Kennedy also debunked the conservative mythology that President Obama and then-Secretary of State Clinton were derelict in their duties the night of the attack. For instance, Fox's Monica Crowley has claimed that "the two leaders of the U.S. Government" were "unaccounted for that night. We have no narrative of where they were or what they were doing."
Today's testimony should put an end to that claim:
GRAYSON: Did the White House ever ignore any reports regarding this attack?
KENNEDY: No, sir, not that I'm aware of.
GRAYSON: Did Secretary Clinton ever ignore any reports regarding this attack?
KENNEDY: No, sir, I personally spoke to Secretary Clinton that evening and Secretary Clinton was being constantly briefed by our operation center all evening.
No doubt this part of Patrick Kennedy's testimony will never see the light of day on Fox or in the conservative media.

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