WASHINGTON -- The House Intelligence Committee voted Thursday to declassify its investigative Benghazi report, a move that likely further undercuts the premise behind the Houses $3.3 million Benghazi select committee. When it is released, the report will mark the fourth major probe of the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the American consulate in eastern Libya, all of which have identified flaws in the responses, the intelligence and the security surrounding the incident that left four Americans dead, including Ambassador Chris Stephens. But none of the reports have found any wrongdoing or hints of conspiracy that the recently created House Benghazi select committee is tasked with unmasking. The House Armed Services Committee found the military did all that it could to intervene. It also discredited the claim that someone ordered military forces to stand down. The State Departments legally mandated Accountability Review Board investigation came to similar conclusions, led by Ambassador Tom Pickering and retired Adm. Michael Mullen, former Reagan and Bush administration officials. A Senate Intelligence Committee review achieved similar results. It is unclear exactly when the Intelligence Committee report will be released, or how much will be declassified after vetting by intelligence officials. But one member of both the House Intelligence Committee and the Benghazi panel said it will be very much in line with its predecessors. The Intelligence Committee report adds to the body of investigative work now completed by numerous committees in Congress, and reaches the same noncontroversial conclusions -- that the initial talking points provided by the intelligence community were flawed because of conflicting assessments not an intention to deceive, that there was no stand down order, that the diplomatic facilities lacked adequate security, and that our personnel at the scene acted bravely and appropriately, said Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) in a statement. This bipartisan report should be declassified quickly, so that the American people may know what we have learned behind closed doors, and how it concurs with other analysis already made public, he added.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 14:20:15 +0000
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