The Obama camp has finally revealed who removed references to al Qaeda from talking points on the Sept. 11 attack of the US consulate in Benghazi, according to a new report.
The newly-released e-mails show the removal of “al Qaeda” was initiated, at least in part, by one of the “press shops” for agencies involved in reviewing the talking points, a source who saw the documents told CBS News.
Four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, were killed in the Libyan attack.
The voluminous documents, requested by the Senate Intelligence Committee, were made available to senators on the committee ahead of its confirmation vote on CIA director John Brennan.
Press officers from the Defense Intelligence agency, the White House and the FBI all reviewed the talking points and some of them were concerned that the media would ask follow-up questions if certain words or phrases were used, according to the report.
Even though Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and then-Deputy CIA Director Michael Morell were included in these e-mails, they did not disclose to Congress who changed the talking points. When asked whether these officials misled Congress in not revealing information that they knew, a source told CBS “the exact right question wasn’t asked.”
But the documents show that once the attacks began, “most if not all contact” between officials in Libya and DC reference al Qaeda as being the suspected instigator. The few references to demonstrations were by people who had not observed any, the report states.
“It’s amazing that anyone would question who was behind the attack and keep the idea of the demonstration going for weeks,” the source said.
The documents also indicate that many other changes were made to the talking points, including removing certain references to an “attack.”
There were also several e-mails sent prior to the attacks from officials in Libya to DC that warned of an attack within days on the Benghazi consulate.