Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testified to the House Select Committee on Benghazi for a grueling 11 hours on Thursday.
During the hearing, congressional panelists sought to hold her accountable for her role in the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attacks on the diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, U.S. Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith, and two CIA contractors, Tyrone S. Woods and Glen Doherty.
Gathered below are 13 of the most shocking revelations from the hearing.
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1. Clinton originated the false narrative about a YouTube video protest — Using Clinton's emails and calls as proof, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, accused her of lying to the American people, telling them that the incident in Benghazi was a protest that got out of hand, instead of what it really was: a terrorist attack.
"So if there's no evidence for a video-inspired protest, then where did the false narrative start? It started with you, Madam Secretary," said Jordan,
Real Clear Politics reported. "Here's what you said at 11 o'clock that night, approximately one hour after you told the American people it was a video, you say to your family, 'Two officers were killed today in Benghazi by an al-Qaida- like group.' You tell — you tell the American people one thing, you tell your family an entirely different story. Also on the night of the attack, you had a call with the president of Libya. Here's what you said to him: 'Ansar al-Sharia is claiming responsibility.' It's interesting; Mr. Khattala, one of the guys arrested in charge actually belonged to that group. And finally, most significantly, the next day, within 24 hours, you had a conversation with the Egyptian prime minister. You told him this: 'We know the attack in Libya had nothing to do with the film. It was a planned attack, not a protest.'"
2. Clinton avoided responsibility for Stevens' death — "I was responsible for sending Chris Stevens to Libya. I was responsible for supporting a temporary facility in Benghazi," Clinton said during her testimony,
The Kansas City Star reported. "I was not responsible for specific security requests and decisions," she concluded, saying that some of the Benghazi outfit's security requests were granted after departmental review, while others were not.
"Chris Stevens had an opportunity to reach me anytime he thought there was something of importance," she said, adding that Stevens and his team in Benghazi "very well understood the dangers that they were confronting. They did the best they could under the circumstances that they were confronting."
3. Clinton likely never spoke to Stevens — Asked by Rep. Susan Brooks, R-Indiana, if she'd ever spoken to Stevens between his swearing-in in May 2012 and before his death on Sept. 11, 2012, Clinton responded "Yes, I believe I did. I don't recall,"
CNN reported. In turn, Brooks responded, "Had you talked to him in July, he would have told you that he had asked to keep the security in Libya that he had. He was told no by your State Department."
4. Stevens didn't have Clinton's email address — "I do not believe he had my personal email . . . He had the direct line to people he had worked with for years," Clinton admitted to the Benghazi committee,
according to the Boston Herald.
5. Clinton said she "knew and admired" Chris Stevens, but called him "Chris Smith" on night of his death — Clinton claimed she "knew and admired" Stevens during her opening statement, and later told the congressional panel she'd "lost more sleep than all of you put together" over the terrorist attack that killed him. Recently disclosed emails show, however, that she didn't get his name right on the night of the attack. In an email to her top aides, she called him "Chris Smith," possibly conflating Chris Stevens and diplomat Sean Smith, who was also killed that night,
The Daily Caller reported.
6. Clinton knew "nothing" about Stevens’ meeting with al-Qaida affiliate — "Were you aware that our folks were either wittingly or unwittingly meeting on the ground with members of al-Qaida hours before the attack?" Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kansas, asked Clinton. "I know nothing about this, Congressman," Clinton replied,
according to National Review.
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7. Sidney Blumenthal had direct access to Clinton; Stevens did not — "A man who was a friend of yours, who had never been to Libya, didn't know much about it, at least that was his testimony, didn't know much about it, every one of those reports that he sent on to you that had to do with situations on the ground in Libya, those made it to your desk," said Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kansas,
according to Politico. "You asked for more of them. You read them. You corresponded with him. And yet the folks that worked for you didn't have the same courtesy."
8. Blumenthal was Clinton's "most prolific emailer on Libya" — "The documents show he was your most prolific emailer on Libya and Benghazi, and my question to you is did the president, the same White House that said you can’t hire him, did he know that he was advising you?" committed chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-South Carolina, asked Clinton. "He was not advising me, and I have no reason to have ever mentioned that or know that the president knew that," said Clinton,
according to Townhall.com.
9. President Barack Obama's White House didn't know Blumenthal was emailing Clinton — "What was he doing when you hired him when the White House rejected him?" Gowdy asked Clinton,
according to RushLimbaugh.com. "He was, in fact, working for my husband," said Clinton. Gowdy clarified, asking, "So he was working for The Clinton Foundation?" Clinton responded, "Yes, that's right, Mr. Chairman." In the year following the 2012 Benghazi attacks, the William J. Clinton Foundation was renamed the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
10. Blumenthal's emails weren't entirely unsolicited — Clinton denied during the hearing that Sidney Blumenthal advised her on Libya, but admitted she responded to his emails "Thanks and please keep them coming," "Greetings from Kabul and thanks for keeping this stuff coming, any other info about it?" and "What are you hearing now?" She also said she frequently forwarded his intelligence to colleagues, oftentimes redacting his name so they wouldn't know the source.
11. Clinton says she didn't know where Blumenthal's intel was coming from — "I don’t know where he got the information," Clinton said of Sidney Bluementhal, who'd never been to Libya himself. "I did learn later that he was talking to . . . former American intelligence officials."
12. The committee doesn't have all of Stevens' emails — "I might add for the record: we do not, still, to this day, have all of Chris Stevens' emails," Rep. Susan Brooks, R-Indiana, said to Clinton,
according to Mediate. "We received 1,300 more this week, we received most of them last week. We don't have the universe, yet, of Ambassador Stevens' emails."
13. Clinton suggested Stevens was joking about security — "One of the great attributes that Chris Stevens had was a really good sense of humor. And I just see him smiling as he’s typing this [email], because it is clearly in response to the email down below talking about picking up a few 'fire sale' items from the Brits," Clinton said about one of Stevens' December emails,
Mediate reported. Rep. Susan Brooks, R-Indiana, did not think Clinton's suggestion was at all funny. "Those 'fire sale' items, by the way, are barricades. They are additional requests for security for the compound," she told Clinton.
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