WSJ Calls Clinton “Mute” On Benghazi Attack Days After She Spoke To Paper About It

Written by Oliver Willis

Published

The Wall Street Journal published an editorial Monday night accusing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of being “mute” on the State Department's role in securing the U.S. consulate that was attacked in Benghazi, Libya. But in an interview with the paper last Wednesday she said “I take responsibility” for the security concerns.

Additionally, the Journal claimed that President Obama “blames” the State Department for the attack, but three days after the attack Obama said that it is “my responsibility to protect U.S. citizens both at home and abroad” and in his October 11 debate with Rep. Paul Ryan, Vice President Biden said national security is the president's “most important responsibility.”

The Journal editorial originally read, “as the White House blames State for Libya, the Secretary is mute.” The Washington Post's Erik Wemple noted that this was later modified to say, “as the White House blames State for Libya, the Secretary says little.” The Journal has not indicated online that any changes have been made to the text.

Sec. Hillary ClintonMichael Calderone reported in The Huffington Post that Journal reporter Monica Langley interviewed Clinton on Wednesday, and while there were no embargoes in place to restrict the story being published, her comments were not printed until today's story reporting on a more recent television interview in which Clinton made similar comments. In that interview with CNN, Clinton said that “I take responsibility” for consulate security, and explained that “the president and the vice president wouldn't be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals.”

Langley reported that Clinton told her that “I take responsibility” for the outpost's security, and that Clinton said, “I'm the Secretary of State with 60,000-plus employees around the world. This is like a big family...It's painful, absolutely painful.”

Conservative media has consistently misreported the story around the Benghazi attacks, inventing and mangling quotes, promoting conspiracy theories, and simply getting the basic facts completely wrong.