New information from Reuters makes it absolutely clear how much deliberate prevarication and dishonesty there was emanating from The White House and the State Department in the wake of the Benghazi attacks.
In a nutshell, Reuters reports that The White House was told within two hours of the attack that Al Qaeda linked militants (or militant Al Qaeda sympathizers) were claiming "credit" for the attacks that resulted in the deaths of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others. An email identifying the group claiming responsibility for the attack was sent to addresses including The White House Situation Room, where the President was, no more than 2.5 hours after the attack.
Granted, as the story is careful to note, not all intelligence accounts can be immediately credited as automatically accurate in these situations. But what is so shocking about the email Reuters has obtained is that it means that the administration's repeated characterizations of the attack as "spontaneous"demonstrations in response to a YouTube video -- for two full weeks thereafter -- were knowingly, hideously false, misleading and incomplete.
What a scandal.
