Daily Beast: Benghazi Security CUT before attacks

Perhaps the only thing worse than our consulate in Benghazi, Libya being denied additional security when they asked for it would have been such pleas falling on deaf ears while security was being cut. Yet, that latter scenario is apparently looking much more likely as whistleblowers are allegedly coming forward and talking to House Oversight committee members about the reality on the ground before 9/11.

Via Eli Lake at the Daily Beast:

In the six months leading up to the assault on the United States consulate in Benghazi, the State Department reduced the number of trained Americans guarding U.S. facilities in Libya, according to a leading House Republican investigating the Sept. 11 anniversary attacks. The reduction in U.S. security personnel increased America’s reliance on local Libyan guards for the protection of its diplomats.

This is the latest charge from Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the Utah Republican leading a House investigation on the Benghazi attacks, regarding alleged security defects in Benghazi. Chaffetz said the information comes from whistleblowers who have approached the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Chaffetz has been an integral part of the Oversight Committee's investigation into Fast and Furious. He knows all too well about stonewalling from this administration and is one of a handful of committee members who have extremely short fuses. This latest scandal presents he - as well as others - with another avenue to pursue relative to such stonewalls.

In the letter sent to Hillary Clinton by Chaffetz and Chairman Issa, they wanted answers about why more security wasn't provided, despite pleas from the Libya mission for more security. It appears Chaffetz is doubling down just one day later:

Chaffetz went further Wednesday, saying in an interview that the number of American diplomatic security officers serving in Libya had been reduced in the six months prior to the attacks. "The fully trained Americans who can deal with a volatile situation were reduced in the six months leading up to the attacks," he said. "When you combine that with the lack of commitment to fortifying the physical facilities, you see a pattern.”

The oversight committee’s investigation is looking at whether there was adequate security for Ambassador Chris Stevens, who was killed in the attacks that day. It’s one of the many questions about the Benghazi attacks that are beginning to circle around the White House, and especially Secretary of State  Clinton, as she completes her tenure.

As for the whistleblowers, it very well may be that they were encouraged by how the Oversight Committee handled the Fast and Furious investigation and were more inclined than they otherwise would have been had members not fought for those whistleblowers.

Here' is Lake's video report:



h/t Hot Air

Video: GOP ad sums up the debate

Just watch...

Video: Mitt loves Big Bird and only likes Jim Lehrer

At the debate, Mitt laid out his test for whether the government should fund any particular program. That test? If money has to be borrowed from China to pay for it, the program is shut down. Yeah, that's rhetoric he will have to do a lot to live up to but when he spoke about ending the PBS subsidy, he realized moderator Jim Lehrer worked at PBS. At that point, he delivered one of the best lines of the night:

"I like PBS, I love Big Bird. I actually like you too."

The look on Lehrer's face after that adds to the humor.



h/t GWP