Fox Hypes Rhodes Email As “Smoking Gun” Proving Benghazi Cover-Up

Fox Claims September 14 Memo Proves Administration Lied About Benghazi. On April 29, Fox seized on an email that was issued three days after the attack by Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes to claim that the September 16, 2011, appearances by then-United Nations ambassador Susan Rice on Sunday talk shows were part of a plot by the Obama administration to avoid political fallout from the attacks. [Fox News, Happening Now, 4/29/14 via Media Matters]

Rhodes Email Showed Nothing New

Email Consistent With Intelligence Reports At The Time. The email issued by Rhodes, which advised Rice on her upcoming appearances, provided information about global protests and said specifically about the attack, “the currently available information suggests that the demonstrations in Benghazi were spontaneously inspired by the protests at the US Embassy in Cairo and evolved into a direct assault against the US Consulate and subsequently its annex.” The language used by Rhodes is nearly identical to the initial draft of the CIA talking points, and was consistent with the intelligence community. [Media Matters, 4/29/14]

Fox Revives Calls For Select Committee To Investigate Benghazi

Fox's Hemmer: Special Investigation Is The Only Way To Get Truth About Benghazi. On the May 1 edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom, co-host Bill Hemmer reacted to testimony in a congressional hearing on Benghazi by saying, “You heard this discussion about a special committee. Many in Washington believe that is how you go out and about to figure out what the truth is here.” Fox News digital politics editor Chris Stirewalt hyped testimony that he claimed showed the Obama administration did not do enough to rescue the victims of the attack, and concluded, “If that's not enough for the Speaker of the House to call for a select committee, I frankly don't know what would be.” [Fox News, America's Newsroom, 5/1/14 via Media Matters]

Fox Contributor Schoen Calls For Select Committee To “Get The Facts.” On Fox News' America's Newsroom, Fox contributor Doug Schoen said: “I would make a simple suggestion. Let us have, now, a select committee with subpoena power to get people like [former National Security Adviser] Tom Donilon under oath. Let's get the facts. Let's put aside the rhetoric. Let's put aside the posturing and get the facts once and for all. One hundred and eighty Republican members of the House have called for it. We need, frankly, the Republicans like Eric Cantor and John Boehner to step forward and not hide.” [Fox News, America's Newsroom, 5/1/14]

On Fox's Kelly File, Andrew McCarthy Calls For Select Committee. On Fox News' The Kelly File, guest host Martha MacCallum interviewed National Review Online's Andrew McCarthy who claimed “five different Congressional committees coming at it are not equipped to conduct what needs to be conducted here,” saying “it's got to be a select committee with subpoena power.” [Fox News, The Kelly File, 4/30/14]

Fox's Guilfoyle Hypes Sen. McCain's Call For Select Committee. On the May 1 edition of Outnumbered, Fox co-host Kimberly Guilfoyle used the Rhodes memo to hype GOP claims of a cover-up and promoted Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) claim, made earlier in the day on Fox, that “the appearance of a cover-up is why we need a select committee to investigate.” [Fox News, Outnumbered, 5/1/14]

Fox Has Repeatedly Used Misinformation To Call For Further Benghazi Investigation

Fox Ignored Bipartisan Benghazi Report To Call For Special Prosecutor. After a bipartisan Senate report on Benghazi concluded that there “were no efforts by the White House or any other Executive Branch entities to 'cover up' facts” following the attack, Fox News contributor K.T. McFarland called for a special prosecutor or select committee to investigate “more unanswered questions.” [Fox News, Happening Now, 1/15/14 via Media Matters]

Fox Contributor Uses False “Stand Down” Narrative To Call For Select Committee. On the July 24, 2013, edition of Fox & Friends, Fox contributor Allen West called for a select committee to investigate who ordered military personnel to “stand down” and not respond, despite the fact that no such order was given. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 7/24/14 via Media Matters; Media Matters, 6/27/13]

Fox Turned To Whitewater Deputy Counsel To Campaign For Special Prosecutor. On the May 13, 2013, edition of Fox News' America Live, host Megyn Kelly attempted to cast doubt on the State Department's Accountability Review board, and hosted Robert Bittman, deputy counsel for the Whitewater investigation, to campaign for a special prosecutor to investigate Benghazi. [Fox News, America Live, 5/13/14 via Media Matters]