Fox News correspondent Catherine Herridge was a no-show at a Benghazi discussion panel Thursday co-hosted by Breitbart News, despite having been listed as a participant.
Moderated by newly-minted Breitbart News columnist and Center for Security Policy founder Frank Gaffney, the panel was held just blocks from the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) outside Washington. The discussion was part of “The Uninvited,” a national security forum co-hosted by Breitbart News featuring many speakers that “were not invited to CPAC.”
Titled, “Benghazigate: The Ugly Truth and the Cover-Up,” the panel included Retired Lt. General William G. “Jerry” Boykin, Chris Farrell of Judicial Watch, and Charles Woods, father of Tyrone Woods, a security officer who was killed during the Benghazi attacks.
Herridge did not respond to a request for comment on why she declined to join the panel, or why she had agreed to participate in the first place given the title of the discussion and the planned co-panelists. Boykin, for example, has a long history of making inflammatory comments about Islam; in 2003 President George W. Bush criticized him for saying Islamic extremists worship “an idol” and hate the U.S. “because we're a Christian nation.”
Even with Herridge absent, she did receive support from the panel and Gaffney, who said her work on Benghazi made her a “truth-teller par excellence.” He said she had informed the panel she could not make it due to unspecified work demands.
Gaffney and the other panelists offered few specifics on what Benghazi elements had been covered up. A bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee review released in January concluded there was no “cover-up” surrounding the attacks.
“This Benghazi thing is not just about four dead Americans, it's not just about a cover up, it's not just about the things that are circulating in the media, it is about our national security,” Boykin claimed, calling on Boehner to hold a bipartisan investigation. “A major ethos in America has been violated.”
Boykin and the others claimed that more support should have been given to U.S. forces in Benghazi, but again offered no details on how or why they were not.
“What I really care about is why there was no effort to go to these people and be there when they needed us,” Boykin claimed. “That is egregious, that is unacceptable, that is not the America I served for and fought for.”
Farrell of Judicial Watch went one step further, accusing Boehner of having “guilty knowledge” of the Benghazi attacks, but (of course) offering no specifics or proof.
“We can't let this one slide away as just another scandal,” Farrell said. “We will not let it go. We will pursue this until we find answers.”