GOP House Report on Benghazi Concludes There Is No Benghazi Scandal
After two years of recriminations and investigations, the Republican-led House intelligence committee is reportedly set to release the results of a Benghazi investigation that found no wrongdoing by the Obama administration in the lead-up and response to the deadly 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya.
Rep. Mike Thompson, a California Democrat who sits on the panel, told the San Francisco Chronicle late Friday that conservatives' big Benghazi witch-hunt was a nothingburger, and we'd all be reading more about it soon:
The panel voted Thursday to declassify the report, the result of two years of investigation by the committee. U.S. intelligence agencies will have to approve making the report public.
Thompson said the report "confirms that no one was deliberately misled, no military assets were withheld and no stand-down order (to U.S. forces) was given."
That conflicts with accusations of administration wrongdoing voiced by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista (San Diego County), whose House Government Oversight and Reform Committee has held hearings on the Benghazi attack.
The report's conclusions, according to Thompson, include these:
— Intelligence agencies were "warned about an increased threat environment, but did not have specific tactical warning of an attack before it happened."
— "A mixed group of individuals, including those associated with al Qaeda, (Moammar) Khadafy loyalists and other Libyan militias, participated in the attack."
— "There was no 'stand-down order' given to American personnel attempting to offer assistance that evening, no illegal activity or illegal arms transfers occurring by U.S. personnel in Benghazi, and no American was left behind."
That's it, right? After 13 congressional hearings and 50 special briefings, case closed, yeah?
Nah. A special House Benghazi committee with a $3.3 million budget has hired staff and plans to start meeting in September.
[Illustration by Adam Weinstein; crying patriotic eagle via]