White House spokesperson – Jay Carney TODAY

WASHINGTON DC – The State Department contributed to heavily editing talking points surrounding the attacks that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans in Libya, leading to the removal of references to terror groups and CIA warnings about threats in the region, according to emails and documents obtained by ABC News.

The ABC News report says that the White House and State Department were informed by intelligence officials that the CIA was aware of potential threats to the Libyan consulate from terror groups before the attacks. But the report said references to those threats were removed from the final version of the talking points used by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice because of pressure from the State Department.

According to the network, “12 different versions of the talking points” indicate extensive editing was done after they were first drafted by the CIA.

[scribd id=140688721 key=key-wqf99w09sdlpgov7fri mode=scroll]

Rice appeared on Sunday news shows following the Sept. 11, 2012 attacks and argued they were a spontaneous reaction to a video deemed offensive to Islam. The administration later admitted Rice’s claim was made with insufficient intelligence, and labeled the event an act of terror. (more…)

We’re reviewing notes from the Benghazi Hearings but wanted to put the initial media take together for review:  This is the Greg Hicks portion – including his statement for the record recounting his experience on the day/night of Sept 11th 2012

(more…)

“red rover, red rover, the truth’s coming over”…

WASHINGTON DC – On the night of Sept. 11, as the Obama administration scrambled to respond to the Benghazi terror attacks, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and a key aide effectively tried to cut the department’s own counterterrorism bureau out of the chain of reporting and decision-making, according to a “whistle-blower” witness from that bureau who will soon testify to the charge before Congress, Fox News has learned.

That witness is Mark I. Thompson, a former Marine and now the deputy coordinator for operations in the agency’s counterterrorism bureau. Sources tell Fox News Thompson will level the allegation against Clinton during testimony on Wednesday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. (more…)

Could this be the raindrop which finally causes the flood?

Chairman Darryl Issa on CBS News Face The Nation

(Via The Weekly Standard)  Even as the White House strove last week to move beyond questions about the Benghazi attacks of Tuesday, September 11, 2012, fresh evidence emerged that senior Obama administration officials knowingly misled the country about what had happened in the days following the assaults.

The Weekly Standard has obtained a timeline briefed by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence detailing the heavy substantive revisions made to the CIA’s talking points, just six weeks before the 2012 presidential election, and additional information about why the changes were made and by whom. (more…)

 WASHINGTON DC – The State Department’s Office of Inspector General is investigating the special internal panel that probed the Benghazi terror attack for the State Department, Fox News has confirmed.

The IG’s office is said by well-placed sources to be seeking to determine whether the Accountability Review Board, or ARB — led by former U.N. Ambassador Thomas Pickering and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen — failed to interview key witnesses who had asked to provide their accounts of the Benghazi attacks to the panel.

The IG’s office notified the department of the “special review” on March 28, according to Doug Welty, the congressional and public affairs officer of the IG’s office. (more…)

Breaking: Senate confirms Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry as secretary of state. http://t.co/FlFT59lx

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) January 29, 2013

WASHINGTON DC – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testified at the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, answering questions on the attack in Benghazi, Libya.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) pressed her on the anti-Islamic video that was originally blamed for the attack. “When you briefed us, you said unequivocally this was a result of a video and I remember in fact you got pretty upset about it when somebody suggested this was a terrorist attack.” (more…)