New Benghazi Testimony Confirms White House Had Time to Respond

by Bridget Johnson

Members of the House Intelligence Committee learned in a closed-door briefing yesterday that more contractors are corroborating the report that the Obama administration had plenty of time to respond to the attack on the Benghazi diplomatic facility.

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) called the new information “outstanding testimony.”

“And essentially what they were able to prove today, they basically backed up the other contractors who were on the ground in the two previous hearings. So this is an ongoing investigation,” Nunes said Tuesday evening. “And I think they gave us a lot of good leads today and I feel very comfortable moving forward with where we are at today.”

The congressman confirmed the White House claim that the attack was sparked by protest over a YouTube video “was a completely lie, and we always knew that.”

“But what I think, some important testimony came out today. So these gentlemen found out about this right around dusk. And they knew the ambassador was missing, and they were in Tripoli. So, and then you have this whole time, you’re talking about roughly 9 to 10:00 at night, until 5:00 in the morning,” he said. “And at that point, you know, essentially the attack was still ongoing.”

“Because they arrived at the time the mortars hit and killed two additional Americans that were not killed at the embassy compound earlier. So this is — there is just nothing there the administration is standing on anymore, as to what were they doing? How come nobody came to help? I think that was clear, nobody knew even at 5:30 that the attack was going to be over.”

Nunes said the timeline begs the question: “What if the attack had went on for another 24 hours?”

“Would they have eventually sent help then? I mean, there is no accountability in this process that I’ve seen so far. And nobody knows what the president knew and when he knew it,” he said.

The recent testimony, though, hasn’t shed any additional light about what President Obama was doing the night of the attack, as the people testifying Tuesday “are the guys that are on the ground that saved everybody’s life.”

“And they were radioing everything upstairs, they assumed that people knew, but they didn’t know — they were on the ground trying to save people’s lives,” Nunes said.

Unsettling Report: Closed-Door Testimony Appears to ‘Bolster Claims’ of Benghazi Stand Down Orders, Inadequate Response

Not only were “stand down” orders given on the night of the deadly Benghazi terrorist attack, they were given in multiple locations, sources on the ground that night tell Fox News. Further, closed-door testimony given by CIA staff and various contractors “appears to bolster claims that more could have been done by U.S. personnel to respond.
Closed Door Testimony Appears to Bolster Claims of Inadequate Benghazi Response

A picture taken on September 10, 2013 shows the main gate of the US consulate in Benghazi on the eve of the anniversary of the 2012 attack on the diplomatic mission that left four people dead, including the ambassador. The September 11, 2012 attack that killed ambassador Chris Stevens caused a political storm between US President Barack Obama’s administration and his Republican opponents. (AFP/Getty Images)

Despite some media reports claiming that there were no stand down orders given on Sept. 11, 2012, sources who were there are telling quite a different story.

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) said there “clearly were stand down orders given to people not only in Benghazi, but also in Tripoli and the State Department’s counterterrorism team.”

“Eight men, either CIA staff or contractors, have now testified before the House Intelligence Committee about the night last year when four Americans were killed in Benghazi, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens,” FoxNews.com reports.

Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) also challenged the Obama administration’s assertion that there wasn’t enough time to respond to the attack.

“OK, fine. But how did you know when it was going to end? Even if it was at the 11th hour, so to speak, why wasn’t help on the way?” he said.

Transcripts of the Benghazi witness testimony is classified. It is now up to lawmakers with access to the testimony to piece together exactly what happened. Some committee members also want more information, including phone records.

“The good news is we have the transcripts. We’ll sit down, go over all the transcripts and we’ll fill-in all the gaps. That’s why this part of it was so important,” Rep. Mike rogers (R-Mich.) said.