The Senate's Benghazi report is explosive — but it doesn't prove there was a cover-up
A long-awaited report finds administrative failings, but not malfeasance
The Senate Intelligence Committee finally released on Wednesday a long-delayed report on the embassy attack in Benghazi, Libya, and the top-line findings are a harsh critique of both the intelligence community and the State Department.
In the most jarring conclusion, the bipartisan report concludes the attacks could have been stopped.
"The attacks were preventable, based on extensive intelligence reporting on the terrorist activity in Libya — to include prior threats and attacks against Western targets — and given the known security shortfalls at the U.S. Mission," the report says.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The report goes on, in great detail, to lay out how poor communication between intelligence agencies and the State Department allowed the threat of an attack to go undetected. And it finds that, despite warnings about the increased likelihood of an attack, the State Department failed to increase security that could have mitigated the damage.
What the report does not find, however, is evidence to substantiate the most politically-charged claims surrounding the attacks: That the Obama administration tried to cover up the involvement of terrorists. On the contrary, it says the intelligence community was wrong from the outset, and that the White House only passed along the incorrect information it received before the talking points were revised.
"[I]ntelligence analysts inaccurately referred to the presence of a protest at the Mission facility before the attack based on open source information and limited intelligence, but without sufficient intelligence or eyewitness statements to corroborate that assertion," the report says. "The IC took too long to correct these erroneous reports, which caused confusion and influenced the public statements of policymakers."
In other words, it wasn't a cover-up; it was bunk intel.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Then-U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice claimed days after the attacks that they were the result of "spontaneous demonstrations" over an anti-Muslim film. That the administration later walked back that claim and admitted the attacks had terrorist origins, some believed, indicated there was a cover-up afoot.
In an appendix to the report, the Democrats on the committee lament that "no issue related to Benghazi has been as mischaracterized as the unclassified talking points prepared by the Central Intelligence Agency."
The Majority believes that the CIA talking points were flawed but — as discussed in the report — painted a mostly accurate picture of the IC's analysis of the Benghazi attacks at that time, in an unclassified form and without compromising the nascent investigation of the attacks by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In retrospect, the talking points could have and should have been clearer. As discussed below, omissions and wording choices contributed to significant controversy and confusion, as did an erroneous reference to "demonstrations." In addition, the Administration was slow to provide details explaining the drafting and editing process that produced the talking points. Speculation and conspiracy theories about the details could have been mitigated if the factual record of how the talking points were produced was provided sooner to this Committee and to the public. [PDF]
To be sure, the harsh words about the State Department are quite serious on their own, cover-up or not. And Republicans will still use those findings to assail the president and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is already roping her back into the story and questioning her leadership.
The GOP members on the committee say in their own statement appended to the report that "one of the biggest failures is the Administration's complete refusal or inability to attain accountability — from the attackers themselves and from those U.S. Government officials who made poor management decisions relating to the Benghazi facilities."
So even though the report disputes cover-up claims, don't expect the Benghazi story to go away just yet.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.
-
The growing thirst for camel milk
Under the radar Climate change and health-conscious consumers are pushing demand for nutrient-rich product – and the growth of industrialised farming
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Good riddance to the televised presidential debate'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Caitlin Clark the No. 1 pick in bullish WNBA Draft
Speed Read As expected, she went to the Indiana Fever
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published