Rep. Darrell Issa's Travel Plans To Libya Should Have Been Kept Secret

FILE: May 22, 2013: Reps. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and Darrell Issa, R-Calif., at a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing in Washington, D.C.REUTERS

Rep. Darrell Issa Received "General Threat" Prior To Libya Visit -- CBS

CBS News has learned that a "general threat" was made against a member of Congress who made a fact-finding trip to Libya this week.

The chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., traveled to Tripoli as part of the Republican's ongoing investigation into the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attacks on Americans in Benghazi.

On Monday, a State Department email showed the Acting Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli reported that a Libyan national known as Eyad "shared his concern and his opinion that Representative Issa should not come to Libya for his own safety."

Eyad told the embassy "The Sen. Mr. Darrell Issa if he would like to keep his luxury life with a half billion $$$ Do not come to Libya. Who is gonna [guard] the guy? And whom you gonna put a blame if the worst happened...Cuz all he gonna gained a several bullets in his smart skull."

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Update: Issa feared targeted by terrorists after Democrats revealed secret Libya trip -- Daily Caller

My Comment: This could have turned out very bad .... the trip should have been kept confidential and secret .... Libya is a borderline failed state, and it has many groups that are either linked to Al Qaeda and/or deeply sympathetic to the terror organization.

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Adm. Mullen Admits That Special Ops Were Told to 'Hold in Place' During The Benghazi Attack

Adm. Mullen Admits Special Ops Told to 'Hold in Place' During Benghazi -- Breitbart

On Thursday, while denying that a "stand-down order" was given to Special Forces members ready to help Americans who were under siege at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi last September, one of the heads of the Benghazi Accountability Review Board (ARB) admitted that a "hold in place" order was in fact given.

Testifying before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Admiral Mike Mullen said that the direction given to Special Operations Command Africa commander Lt. Col Gibson was to "hold in place" on the night of the attacks.

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Update: Admiral admits Special Ops ordered to ‘hold in place’ during Benghazi attack -- BizPac

My Comment: So it was "hold in place" order .... not a "stand down" order that went out to US military forces in Benghazi. In my world there is no difference between the two definitions .... but this is the defense that the administration is now parsing out on what had happened in Benghazi last year when they say that no "stand down" orders were issued .... but a "hold in place" order was. It's enough to make you nuts. Not surprisingly .... no one in the main stream media is covering this story.

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Parents Of Benghazi Victims Are Being Ignored

Parents Of Benghazi Victims: We've Been Left In Dark -- USA Today

Parents testify before committee investigating attack in Libya

WASHINGTON — Parents of two of the four men killed in Benghazi last year testified before a committee investigating the incident that Obama administration officials have failed to answer questions about the attack despite pledges to keep them informed.

"No one in the government has told me anything," said Patricia Smith, the mother of Sean Smith, whose body was the first one found at the diplomatic compound in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012. "Everything I've found, and I mean anything, I found by going on the Internet and asking questions."

"It's been true hell living through this without any answers," Smith said.

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My Comment: It is difficult to be heard and easy to be ignored when many of these elected Congressmen/women decided to leave when the parents came in to testify. This is shameful .... but such is what the U.S. government today. As for the main stream media's coverage of this story .... with the exception of a few blogs and USA Today .... nothing.

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Congress Grills Leaders of State Department’s Benghazi Review

‘Inside Job’? Leaders of State Department’s Benghazi Review Grilled By Lawmakers -- FOX News

The leaders of the State Department's internal review of the Benghazi terror attack were grilled Thursday by congressional Republicans who suggested their probe amounted to an "inside job" that let senior officials off the hook.

The hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee comes days after the committee released a draft report alleging that top State Department officials escaped blame for some of the policy decisions that left the U.S. compound in Benghazi less secure. The leaders of the internal review board -- former Amb. Thomas Pickering and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Gen. Mike Mullen -- were called to testify, and defended the board's objectivity and findings.

"I had no sense anywhere that there was any conflict of interest," Pickering said. "I'm proud of the report."

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More News On Today's Congressional Hearings On Benghazi

Benghazi investigators defend their probe -- CBS
House GOP grills Pickering, Mullen on Benghazi -- Boston.com/AP
House Republicans Say Benghazi Report Seen as a Whitewash -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Subpoenas will hit State Department over Benghazi as House Oversight committee gets serious: Will Hillary Clinton be on the list? -- Daily Mail
House GOP accused of ‘getting at somebody’ in Benghazi hearings -- MSNBC
House Dems: No 'Stand-Down' Order During Benghazi -- ABC/AP

My Comment: What is my take on all of this .... I agree with the parents whose sons were killed in Benghazi .... call up the witnesses who were on the ground in Libya when the attack was happening, and listen to their testimony.

Update: Administration's Benghazi Review Board Discredits Itself in Congressional Hearing. Do the media care? -- Stephen Hayes, Weekly Standard

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Are CIA Employees Being Silenced On What Happened In Benghazi?

Rep. Wolf: CIA Employee Who Refused To Sign Non-Disclosure On Benghazi Suspended -- Washington Times

A CIA employee who refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement barring him from discussing the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, has been suspended as a result and forced to hire legal counsel, according to a top House lawmaker.

Rep. Frank Wolf (R., Va.) revealed at an event on Monday that his office was anonymously informed about the CIA employee, who is purportedly facing an internal backlash after refusing to sign a legal document barring him from publicly or privately discussing events surrounding the Benghazi attack.

The revelation comes about a month after several media outlets reported that CIA employees with knowledge of the terror attack had been forced to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDA) and submit to regular polygraph tests.

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More News On A CIA Employee Who Refused To Sign Non-Disclosure On Benghazi Being Suspended

Congressman: CIA Employee Who Refused to Sign Non-Disclosure on Benghazi Suspended -- Washington Free Beacon
CIA employee suspended for refusing to sign non disclosure form -- Examiner
Report: CIA Employee Who Refused to Sign Non-Disclosure Agreement on Benghazi Suspended -- The Blaze
CIA employee who said no to Benghazi non-disclosure suspended -- Bizpac

My Comment: If true .... this will make one wonder if the CIA (and others) are still going out of their way to keep any discussion on Benghazi under a tight leash. As for mainstream media coverage of this story (or lack of) .... Dana Milbank from the Washington Post voices a point of view that is probably held by many of his colleagues.

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State Department’s Benghazi Investigation Was Not Independent When Examining The Role Senior State Department Officials Played

Congress: Hillary’s Benghazi Investigation Let Top Officials Escape Blame -- Josh Rogin, The Daily Beast

A new report reveals that the State Department’s Benghazi investigation failed to hold senior officials accountable for the deaths of four Americans. Josh Rogin reports.

The State Department’s investigation into the Sept. 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi was not independent and failed to hold senior State Department officials accountable for the failures that led to the death of four Americans, according to a new investigative report compiled by the House Oversight Committee.

The Administrative Review Board, chosen by then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, unfairly placed the blame for the terrorist attack on four mid-level officials while ignoring the role of very senior officials in Clinton’s State Department for decisions about security in Benghazi, according to the new report led by Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA). Also, the structure of the ARB and the culture in Clinton’s State Department raised questions about the independence and integrity of the review, according to Issa’s committee.

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More News On Reports That the State Department’s Benghazi Investigation Was Not Independent When Examining The Role Senior State Department Officials Played

Benghazi Accountability Review Board comes under renewed criticism -- CBS
State Department’s Benghazi review let senior officials off the hook, report finds -- FOX News
House committee to renew focus on Benghazi -- Washington Post
House Report: State Dept. Benghazi Probe Unfairly Protected Senior Officials, Hillary Clinton Blamed -- The Blaze
House Report: Hillary's Benghazi Probe Let Top Officials Off Hook -- Newsmax

My Comment: This is a blockbuster report. In short .... senior officials and aides to Hillary Clinton were protected in their internal investigation on Benghazi. As we had predicted months ago when these investigations started to unfold .... CYA is now official policy for this administration when it comes to Benghazi.

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A Ground Action Report Of What Happened When The U.S. Consulate In Benghazi Was Attacked On September 11, 2012

The U.S. Consulate in Benghazi was set alight on the evening of September 11, and the armed group returned the following day, with deadly results

Why Did The CIA Let A Crazed al-Qaeda Mob Kill America's Ambassador? Moment By Moment, The Atrocity That's Sent The U.S. Into A Frenzy Of Suspicion And Recrimination -- Daily Mail

* The U.S. Consulate in Benghazi was attacked on September 11, 2012
* A group of armed jihadists attacked the building and set it alight
* Four people died in the attack, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens

Fumbling in the dark, the American ambassador hurriedly pulled on bullet-proof body armour over his blue trousers and T-shirt. A shrill warning siren was sounding and the crash of gunshots could be heard, getting closer by the second.

‘Follow me, sir,’ urged a diplomatic bodyguard, gripping his M4 assault rifle, shouldering an additional pump-action shotgun and looking anxiously around him as they set out along blacked-out corridors. ‘We are under attack.’

It was 9.40pm in the United States diplomatic mission in Benghazi, the second city of strife-torn Libya, a country trying to re-build itself in the aftermath of civil war and the ousting and killing of its mad dictator, Colonel Gaddafi.

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My Comment: This is my must read post for today .... but you will need a strong stomach to finish it. This account comes from the book UNDER FIRE by Fred Burton and Samuel Katz.

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CIA Director: Benghazi Survivors Will Be Made Available To Talk

CIA Director Pledges To Make Benghazi Survivors Available To Talk -- Weekly Standard

One year after the terrorist attacks on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, the survivors may finally begin to talk.

In a three-page letter to the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Mike Rogers, CIA director John Brennan says that his agency will provide the “relevant information” to Rogers in order to facilitate meetings between CIA-affiliated personnel in Benghazi and congressional oversight committees. The offer of cooperation, dated September 3, 2013, comes as four committees of jurisdiction in the House of Representatives prepare to reinvigorate separate inquiries into the events of September 11, 2012, and their aftermath. In the next two weeks, the House Foreign Affairs, Armed Services, Government Oversight and Reform, and Intelligence Committees will all hold hearings looking into different aspects of the Benghazi attacks – beginning with an Intelligence Committee hearing later this week on the lack of progress in the investigation and apprehension of the perpetrators of those attacks. 60 Minutes is planning to air its investigation into the Benghazi attacks later this fall.

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My Comment: After a year he is finally making this possible!?!? I have to see this to believe it.

WNU Editor: The above video is from FOX News on October 12, 2012

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Remembering The Benghazi Attack One Year Later

One Year Later, Benghazi's Lingering Issues -- Sharyl Attkisson, CBS

One year after the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attacks on Americans in Benghazi, Libya, no arrests have been reported but the Justice Department says investigators have made "very significant progress."

Four U.S. personnel, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens, were killed in mob assaults that moved from a U.S. diplomatic compound to a nearby CIA facility over a period of eight hours.

Last month, government officials confirmed that sealed criminal charges have been filed against suspects. They are said to include Ahmed Khattalah, who gave interviews in Benghazi with several news organizations admitting he was at the scene of the attacks but insisting he was not the "ringleader." Khattalah also said that nobody from the U.S. government had attempted to question him.

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More News And Commentary On The U.S. Consulate Attack In Benghazi One Year Later

One Year Later, We Still Haven't Solved The Mystery At The Heart Of The Benghazi Attack -- Michael Kelley and Geoffrey Ingersoll, Business Insider
Counter-terrorism officials ID extremist groups in Benghazi attack -- UPI
Benghazi One Year Later: Risk to Diplomats Remains High -- US News and World Report
One Year After Benghazi Attack, 'Huge Gap' In Investigation -- Mark Memmott, NPR
3 important things we still don't know about Benghazi -- Keith Wagstaff, The Week
A year after Benghazi, where is the justice? -- Rowan Scarborough, The Washington Times
Up to Speed: 5 Things You Need to Know About Benghazi -- Eli Lake, Daily Beast
The Travesty of Benghazi -- Jamie Dettmer, Daily Beast
Benghazi Consulate Attack Fast Facts -- CNN

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The Guardian Challenges The Official Version Of What Happened At Benghazi

US Consulate Attack In Benghazi: A Challenge To Official Version Of Events -- The Guardian

A year after the first US ambassador in 33 years was killed on duty, Chris Stephen, one of the first western reporters on the scene in Benghazi, pieces together what really happened from witness accounts, official reports, and the ruins of the compound

The attack on the US consulate in Benghazi was striking for a number of reasons: the date, 11 September, the toll – four diplomats killed, including an ambassador – and the knock-on effects on the careers of senior American politicians.

But what is perhaps most striking is the inconsistencies: the US version of events compared with those of witnesses and the facts on the ground. The two do not tally. And so, a year later, there remain pressing questions about what happened that night – and what the Americans say happened.

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My Comment: Just one more case where more questions are being raised on Bengahzi than answers .... and a total lack of interest from the White House and the State Department to have them answered.

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Is Benghazi Whistleblower Being Punished For Speaking Out?

Gregory Hicks: Hearing of Death of Christopher Stevens ‘Saddest Moment’ In My Career -- ABC News

In an exclusive interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, former Deputy Chief of Mission in Libya Gregory Hicks recalled being told of the death of then U.S. ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens in Benghazi last year, characterizing it as the “saddest moment” in his career.

Hicks – who had a brief phone conversation only hours before with Stevens before the line went dead — was informed of his death by Libya’s prime minister.

“He just says, ‘I’m very sorry, Greg, to tell you this, but our friend Chris has passed on.’ I think those were his words. There was deep remorse in his voice when he said it,” said Hicks, who was in Tripoli when he first heard of the attack.

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More News On Benghazi Whistleblower Gregory Hicks Claims That He Is Being Punished For Speaking Out

Gregory Hicks: Lives Could Have Been Saved in Benghazi (Transcript) -- Real Clear Politics
Benghazi Whistleblower: I’ve Been ‘Punished’ for Speaking Out -- NRO
Whistle Blower Claims Being 'Punished' over Benghazi -- CBN News
State Dept. denies punishing diplomat for speaking about Benghazi -- UPI

My Comment: I do not know if Gregory Hicks is being punishe for speaking out .... but I do know that after almost one year and multiple promises from the U.S. government .... not one Benghazi suspect has been arrested .... and that lack of progress is really the big story.

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Benghazi Is Clouding The White House's Push On Syria

Shadow Of Benghazi Clouds Obama’s Syria Push On Capitol Hill -- Washington Times

Lingering frustration over the way President Obama handled the attacks in Libya that led to death of a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans has colored the debate over whether to launch military strikes against Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Republican lawmakers said in hearings this week that the two situations are linked because the September 2012 attack on the diplomatic post in Benghazi weakened Mr. Obama’s credibility with the public, with the public still seeking answers about what went wrong and why people have not been held accountable for the security shortcomings there.

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My Comment: Next week will be the first anniversary of the Benghazi consulate attack that killed 4 Americans including the US Ambassador .... and many are still waiting (including the families fo those who were killed) for answers to the many questions that were asked on what was happening on the day of the attack .... and after. As a result this inadequate response has created a "bad taste" in Congress .... and more to the point .... a lack of trust. So yes .... the White House's handling of Benghazi has clouded the White House's push on Syria.

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Special Ops Team Sent To Find Benghazi Is Pulling Out

Team Involved In Tracking Benghazi Suspects Pulling Out, Sources Say -- FOX News

Two weeks after the Obama administration announced charges against suspects in the Benghazi attack, a large portion of the U.S. team that hunted the suspects and trained Libyans to help capture or kill them is leaving Libya permanently.

Special operators in the region tell Fox News that while Benghazi targets have been identified for months, officials in Washington could "never pull the trigger." In fact, one source insists that much of the information on Benghazi suspects had been passed along to the White House after being vetted by the Department of Defense and the State Department -- and at least one recommendation for direct action on a Benghazi suspect was given to President Obama as recently as Aug. 7.

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Update #1: This is How Serious Obama is About Capturing the Benghazi Killers -- Rick Moran, PJ Media
Update #2: Special Ops team sent to find Benghazi suspects leaving Libya for good -- Bizpac
Update #3: White House Unserious About Getting Benghazi Suspects -- IBD Editorial

My Comment: With these developments one cannot help but come to the conclusion that the White House is not serious in capturing these Benghazi suspects. So the next questions begs itself .... why are they acting like this?

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No Formal Disciplinary Action For US State Department Officials On Benghazi

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pounds on her table while testifying on the September attack on U.S. diplomatic sites in Benghazi, Libya during a hearing held by the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on January 23, 2013. (Jason Reed/Reuters, via Landov)

Kerry Reinstates Benghazi Officials Clinton Punished -- Josh Rogin, Daily Beast

Secretary of State John Kerry has determined that the four State Department officials placed on administrative leave by Hillary Clinton after the terrorist attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi do not deserve any formal disciplinary action and has asked them to come back to work at the State Department starting Tuesday.

Last December, Clinton’s staff told four mid-level officials to clean out their desks and hand in their badges after the release of the report of its own internal investigation into the Benghazi attack, compiled by the Administrative Review Board led by former State Department official Tom Pickering and former Joint Chiefs Chairman Ret. Adm. Mike Mullen. Those four officials have been in legal and professional limbo, not fired but unable to return to their jobs, for eight months… until today.

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My Comment: So much for accountability.

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Whistle Blower Claims That 400 US Surface-To-Air Missiles Were 'Stolen' From Libya During The Benghazi Attack

CNN last week broadcast an audio interview with Ahmed Abu Khattala, the leader of Ansar al-Sharia who is suspected of carrying out the attack. He said U.S. authorities have not sought him out

400 US Surface-To-Air Missiles Were 'STOLEN' From Libya During The Benghazi Attack, Claims Whistleblower -- Daily Mail

A former U.S. Attorney who represents whistle-blowers with knowledge of what happened when armed militants attacked the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya last year says 400 surface-to-air missiles were 'taken from Libya' during the attack, and that the U.S. intelligence community is terrified they might be used to shoot down airliners.

Joe diGenova, whose wife Victoria Toensing – a former deputy assistant attorney general – also represents Benghazi witnesses and others with knowledge of the terror attack, told WMAL radio that the loss of those missiles is also one the reason the U.S. State Department shut down 19 embassies across the Middle East last week.

'A lot of people have come forward to share information with us,' he said during the radio station's 'Mornings On The Mall' program Monday morning.

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My Comment: I have some doubts on the accuracy of this report .... 400 surface-to-air missiles is a lot of missiles to store in one spot .... stealing them doubly so. But if this story is true .... it is a nightmare scenario that could cripple civil aviation for years.

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Conducting A Legal Offensive To Bring The Benghazi Attack Suspects To Justice

U.S. authorities are waiting to see how Libya will cooperate in the manhunt for the alleged consulate attacker.

U.S. Charges For Benghazi Attack Suspect Open U.S. Options -- US News and World Report

A legal framework is an important first step to detaining, prosecuting alleged consulate attackers.

News that the U.S. has formally charged one of the suspected Benghazi attackers will likely do little to intimidate the enemies of the West, but it does open the floodgates for a legal response.

Reports circulated Tuesday that the U.S. Justice Department has filed charges against Ahmed Khattalah, the leader of a violent Libyan militia believed to have carried out the attack on a U.S. diplomatic facility in Benghazi last September. His whereabouts are not publicly known, and it is unclear whether the Libyan government can detain him for prosecution.

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My Comment: This lawfare/legal approach was tried and promoted before 9/11 .... a policy that became a disaster if you asked me. A dozen years later .... we are now doing the same thing, hoping again that a legal approach will stop these individuals and groups from conducting terror attacks against us. My prediction .... this will fail also.

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President Obama Makes A Surprised Revelation On The Benghazi Investigation

President Obama's Surprise Revelation Of Sealed Benghazi Indictment -- ABC News

President Obama surprised aides when he revealed today the existence of a sealed indictment in the Benghazi, Libya, attack, leaving some wondering if he crossed a legal line.

At a press conference at the White House, President Obama was asked whether justice would come to those responsible for the terrorist attack nearly a year ago in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador.

"[W]e have informed, I think, the public that there's a sealed indictment," the president responded. "It's sealed for a reason. But we are intent on capturing those who carried out this attack, and we're going to stay on it until we get them."

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More News On President Obama's Comments On The Benghazi Investigation

Obama On Finding Benghazi Attackers: We Didn't Get Osama Bin Laden In 11 Months -- Real Clear Politics
Obama confirms sealed U.S. charges in Benghazi attack -- Reuters
Obama cites sealed indictment in Benghazi probe -- SFGate/AP
In Misstep, Obama Discusses Sealed Indictment on Benghazi -- Wall Street Journal
Fox's Ed Henry Presses Obama: Where Are the Benghazi Terrorists -- FOX News
Obama owns Benghazi indictment leak -- New York Daily News

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