ELISABETH HASSELBECK (HOST): A newly released email from the Pentagon may be the smoking gun in the Benghazi investigation. The email addressed to top aides of Hillary Clinton shows the United States military was gearing up to respond to the Benghazi terror attacks. A message from then-Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta's chief of staff reads this, quote, “We have identified the forces that could move into Benghazi. They are spinning up as we speak,” end quote. The email contradicts statements made by Panetta, who told the Senate after the attack that there was no time to get forces to Libya to try to save the people there. It now looks like the only thing standing between the terrorists who overran the compound and the four Americans who lost their lives was a green light from the State Department. Fox News senior judicial analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano is here with reaction. This is big.

ANDREW NAPOLITANO: This is huge. And it's extremely troublesome for the Obama administration today and for Mrs. Clinton and her tenure as the secretary of state, because the Obama administration and Mrs. Clinton, when she was secretary of state and since she left, had been arguing and arguing consistently that there was no notice and no opportunity for military personnel to support and defend the consulate. Now, remember, there are three attacks. After the first attack is when this email is sent. There's a five-hour gap between the first attack and the second and third. The third follows the second.

HASSELBECK: Meaning there was time to do something.

NAPOLITANO: Absolutely. The ambassador and his bodyguards are alive in that five-hour time period. So you have military personnel in Washington, D.C. communicating with military personnel in Italy saying can you get there fast. The guys in Italy, in general, are saying, yes, we can be there fast. We need the State Department's permission and we need to know we're not going to be fired at by the host country when we land in Benghazi.

HASSELBECK: But they were ready to do that?

NAPOLITANO: Yes. What does the State Department do?

HASSELBECK: Nothing.

NAPOLITANO: Nothing.

HASSELBECK: Nothing.

NAPOLITANO: Nothing. Now, this cuts both ways. The media has not covered this.

HASSELBECK: No they have not. In fact to your point--

NAPOLITANO: We are covering this. This is extremely problematic for the Obama administration. The Gowdy committee did not ask Mrs. Clinton about this. It's inconceivable that they didn't have this email. The history of the email is very interesting. Because Judicial Watch, which started all this in a simple Freedom Of Information Act request, asked for this email. They got back a letter from the Defense Department saying, too secret, we're not going to give it to you. A judge examined the email along with many others in private and said release it. Two days ago it was released. Not a word from the administration or Mrs. Clinton yet.

HASSELBECK: OK so your ruling on this email and what it shows: what does this email indicate on the part of the State Department and Hillary Clinton?

NAPOLITANO: It indicates that Secretary of Defense Panetta was not either knowledgeable or truthful when he told the Senate we didn't have the troops. And that Mrs. Clinton has a lot of explaining to do, because she has been part of the administration narrative, we didn't have the time or availability of troops. Remember, the ambassador is murdered because these troops weren't there.

HASSELBECK: And remember this, zero minutes, on this email revelation covered by the mainstream media there. That is near criminal.

Previously:

Right-Wing Media Echo Conservative Group's Lie That New Email Contradicts Administration's Benghazi Testimony

Conservative Benghazi Reporting Is A Dumpster Fire

Fox's Outnumbered Repeats Debunked Claim That A Newly Released Email Contradicts Obama Official's Benghazi Testimony