Memo To The Media: GOP Intel Committee Report Is Just The Latest To Debunk Right-Wing Benghazi Myths

Written by Zachary Pleat & Olivia Kittel

Published

On November 21, the Republican-led House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence released the findings of its investigation into the September 2012 attacks on two U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, debunking many right-wing media myths about the attacks. Despite the fact that this is just the latest of several reports that clear Obama administration officials of any wrongdoing, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) reappointed Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) to lead a special committee in furtherance of the right-wing Benghazi hoax.

House Committee On Intelligence Report Debunks Right-Wing Media's Benghazi Hoax

House Committee On Intelligence Concludes No Cover Up, No Stand Down Order In Benghazi Attack. The Republican-led House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) released the findings of a nearly two year-long investigative report into the September 2012 attacks on two U.S. facilities in Benghazi. This report, like many before it, debunked right-wing media's myths about the attacks, concluding that there was no intelligence failure prior to the attacks, no stand down order was issued during attacks, and the administration's initial talking points about the attacks were based on the Central Intelligence Agency's assessment at the time, as the administration has long maintained. [Media Matters, 11/21/14]

Despite Latest Report, House Speaker Reappoints Rep. Gowdy To Chair House Select Committee On Benghazi And Continue Investigations

John Boehner Reappoints Gowdy To Chair House Benghazi Select Committee. House Speaker John Boehner announced that he will reappoint Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) as Chairman of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, noting that he looks forward “to the definitive report Chairman Gowdy and the Select Committee will present to the American people,” claiming there are still “far too many questions about what happened that night.” [Speaker Boehner's Press Office, 11/24/14]

Several Bipartisan And Independent Reviews Have Debunked Right-Wing Claims About Benghazi

Bipartisan U.S. Senate Select Committee On Intelligence Found No Cover Up, No Stand Down Order. The U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released a report in January about the 2012 Benghazi attacks that dispelled many right-wing Benghazi conspiracy theories. The investigation found no evidence of an Obama administration cover up, and debunked many right-wing conspiracy theories about the attacks. The review determined there was no effort by the administration to alter their talking points for political purposes, no evidence of a stand down order given to responding units during the attack, and there was no effort by the Obama administration to cover up or alter facts about the attacks. [Review Of The Terrorist Attacks On U.S. Facilities In Benghazi, Libya, September 11-12, 2012, U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, 1/15/14] [Media Matters, 1/15/14] [Media Matters, 5/7/14]

Republican-Led House Armed Services Committee Report Concluded No Stand Down Order Issued To Military. On February 11, the House Armed Services Committee released a report on its investigation into the Benghazi attacks, which concluded that “There was no 'stand down' order issued to U.S. military personnel in Tripoli who sought to join the fight in Benghazi.” As The Washington Post explained, the report further determined that “no U.S. military assets could have arrived in Benghazi in time to affect the outcome of the attack, according to committee staff members who briefed reporters on the report.” [Media Matters, 2/11/14]

State Department's Independent Accountability Review Board For Benghazi Found No Evidence Of A Cover Up. The independent Accountability Review Board's investigation into the 2012 Benghazi attacks found no evidence that the Obama administration or the intelligence community withheld necessary information or acted with political motivations, contrary to the myths pushed by GOP lawmakers and right-wing media. [State Department, 12/19/12] [Media Matters, 9/16/14]

State Department Office Of The Inspector General Found The Accountability Review Board's Benghazi Investigation Operated “As Intended” And “Without Bias.” The State Department Office of the Inspector General (IG) issued results of its investigation into the Benghazi Accountability Review Board's (ARB) Benghazi probe and found that the process worked as intended -- “independently and without bias - to identify vulnerabilities in the Department of state's security programs.” This finding contradicted myths pushed by GOP lawmakers, including Darrell Issa, who falsely alleged the ARB was “anything but an independent investigation.” [U.S. State Department Office Of the Inspector General, Special Review of the Accountability Review Board Process, 9/13] [Media Matters, 9/27/13]