Fox News' Geraldo Rivera condemned his colleague Eric Bolling for pushing what Rivera called “an absolute misrepresentation” aimed at scoring “a political point” over the tragic September 11 attack on a U.S. Consulate in Libya.
Discussing what reports say were separate attacks on the compound in Benghazi, separated by hours, Bolling criticized the Obama administration for ignoring calls to send help after the initial attack, saying: “So Washington, the State Department, the CIA, does nothing, sends no help.”
Rivera immediately took Bolling to task, calling him a “politician” who was “misleading the American people.”
As Rivera pointed out, a separate team from Tripoli was dispatched to Benghazi. The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday:
Meanwhile, in Tripoli, another CIA team mobilized to provide additional security for the CIA annex and help evacuate Americans from Benghazi. The team went to the Tripoli airport with a suitcase full of cash to find a plane to fly to Benghazi. They were delayed because Libyan authorities insisted the Americans be accompanied by a larger Libyan force on the ground in Benghazi, which took time to assemble, U.S. officials say. Libyan officials attribute the delay to the Americans not sharing key logistical details with them.
At about 7 p.m. -- 1 a.m. in Benghazi -- the team touched down at the Benghazi airport. The team had to negotiate for transport into Benghazi, the senior U.S. intelligence official said. When the team learned the ambassador was missing and the annex attackers had dispersed, they focused on the security situation at the hospital, where the ambassador was thought to be.
By the time the team was able to arrange transportation with an armed escort, the intelligence official said, they had learned that the ambassador was almost certainly dead and the security at the hospital was unclear, so they decided to go to the annex to help with the evacuation. The ambassador was pronounced dead shortly after 2 a.m.