The four state department officials reported to have "resigned effective immediately" or been "relieved of their responsibilities" in the wake of the State Department internal analysis on the U.S. Consulate attack in Benghazi, Libya aren't going away after all.
The New York Post is reporting that the highest ranking of the group, Assitant Secretary of State Eric Boswell, is "just switching desks" within the State Department. The other three are on "administrative leave and are expected back" on the job.
The findings of the Accountability Review Board assigned to investigate the Benghazi attacks on September 11, 2012 found "systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels" in the State Department.
Within hours of the public dissemination of the scathing ARB findings on December 18, the State Department announced that Boswell and three others were done, and the four were quickly labeled as the "fall guys" for the still evolving tragic scandal that has been full of lies and deception from the beginning.
Many believe the scandal runs higher up in the Administration, possibly involving Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has taken a conveniently taken a medical leave of absence for the last many weeks, and possibly other highly placed people inside the White House itself.
As if there hadn't already been enough Benghazi deceit, it appears that the Administration can't even tell the truth about people being fired – or resigning – or being sent on vacation – or whatever actually happened. The consequence for "grossly inadequate" security leading to the death of a U.S. Ambassador and three other Americans is apparently an extended holiday vacation.
When told of the New York Post report Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee exploded. "If these reports are correct, they're pathetic examples of yet another ruse about the tragedy of Benghazi," she told Fox News. "State Department officials proclaimed to the world that heads would roll after the deception related to the deceitful video excuse and the non-existent spontaneous protest outside the consulate. Now we see that the discipline is a lie and all that has happened is the shuffling of the deck chairs. That will in no way change what the ARB found to be systemic failures of management and leadership in the State Department."
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