Sarah Palin says the newly-released report on the attack last September on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya proves the Obama administration lied about events that led to the deaths of four Americans killed in the violent assault.
"I think the bottom line that is so frustrating to Americans is we were deceived," Palin said Wednesday night on Fox News' "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren."
"We were led, in a season of electioneering and campaigning, led to believe something that was other than true. Americans were lied to," she continued, referring to the administration's early insistence that the attack was prompted by anger over an anti-Islam video.
"And, yes, some heads are rolling now. But again, so many questions . . . have not been answered, and it just really illustrates that lack of transparency in the Obama administration."
Four State Department officials have resigned or have been dismissed as a result of the independent report released on Tuesday, which faulted "systematic failures" of management at the department for the lack of sufficient security at the Benghazi compound.
Clinton was not directly blamed in the report, but a number of lawmakers, including Democrats, are eager to question her about details that were not revealed in the unclassified version of the independent investigation released to the public. She was scheduled to testify at both House and Senate hearings today on the report, but her appearance was postponed until next month after she fell ill with the flu and suffered a concussion in a fall.
Palin, the former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate, agreed it was important to hear directly from Clinton, who has so far managed to avoid hard questions about what she and President Barack Obama knew regarding security concerns in Benghazi leading up the attack on Sept. 11.
"I look forward to hearing from Secretary Clinton when she does have the opportunity to testify because there are so many unanswered questions," Palin said.
She said Americans still deserve to know whether the president initially sought to cover up the fact the Benghazi attack was carried out by a terrorist group because he claimed during his re-election campaign that "al-Qaida was on the run."
"Bottom line is, during the campaign in those final days, Barack Obama wanted to keep that false narrative alive that he — Mr. Nobel Peace Prize-winning president of ours — he pretty much quashed the terrorists' activities, if you will . . . And that's not true," Palin said.
"I mean, they even told Americans that al Qaeda was on the run, and that is not true. Maybe they're on the run, but it's towards America, not away from America. And that played out in Benghazi," she added.
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