Jun 30 2016

Graham on the Release of the Benghazi Report

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) made this statement on the release of the Benghazi report by the House Select Committee on Benghazi.

“I commend the hard work and dedication of Chairman Trey Gowdy, his staff, and the Republican members of the House Select Committee on Benghazi. Trey did an excellent job of establishing a narrative of what truly happened in Benghazi before, during, and after the attack.

“I’m deeply disappointed in his Democratic colleagues for standing up road blocks at every turn and the White House for its continued efforts to impede this investigation.

“For anyone familiar with the attacks that killed four Americans in Benghazi, we learned so much from Trey’s investigation. We learned that Secretary of State Clinton told her own daughter the same day of the attack that it was caused by a terrorist group. We learned that Ben Rhodes, one of President Obama’s chief political operatives, shaped the narrative that the attack was a result of a protest inspired by a video.

“This investigation made clear the Benghazi Special Mission Compound, which was to be part of a victory lap for Secretary Clinton, was instead allowed to become a death trap. As the report revealed, despite former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta’s clear orders to deploy military assets, not one military asset was moving toward Benghazi to help our brave Americans under fire. It is also clear in the days and weeks following the attack that the Obama Administration desperately attempted to spin the story for political purposes.

“This report, in excruciating detail, paints a picture of disconnect between what happened on the ground and the Obama Administration’s response. It details incompetency by the State Department and the Administration before and during the attack. The report also reveals many new specifics about the level of deceit the Administration engaged in following the attack in an effort to structure the narrative as a protest caused by a video instead of a preplanned terror attack.

“I commend Trey Gowdy for his work to uncover all of what happened on that fateful night and early next morning to ensure our country learns everything possible so that a tragedy like Benghazi never happens again.”