Former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Pete Hoekstra says "the Obama administration clearly is starting to unravel on the whole issue of Benghazi."
On "America's Forum" with J.D. Hayworth on Newsmax TV, Hoekstra cites two examples of how he believes the White House is doing a poor job of handling the recent revelations made in emails about the narrative it developed on why the Benghazi attacks took place. First, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney is trying to argue that the email wasn't about Benghazi. Second, former White House aide Tommy Vietor displayed a flippant attitude about the emails in an interview Thursday night on Fox News.
"It shows that . . . this is amateur hour when it comes to foreign policy," Hoekstra said.
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House Speaker
John Boehner announced Friday that he is scheduling a vote to create a select committee on Benghazi, which Hoekstra said is a good idea.
"Boehner saw that having five committees [investigating Benghazi] meant that no one was in charge," Hoekstra explained.
As a result, Republicans "were stepping all over each other's message."
The former congressman also said that the fact that "the big news this week with the email" came from government watchdog group, Judicial Watch, shows that "the five committees weren't getting things done . . . and they were being overshadowed by people from outside Congress."
"Congress wasn't taking a lead, and so finally, and I say finally because I think this should have happened a long time ago," he added. "At least they're going in the right direction."
An email was obtained by
Judicial Watch through a Freedom of Information Act request, which showed that Ben Rhodes, White House national security speech writer, had recommended that Rice "underscore that these protests are rooted in an Internet video, and a not a broader failure of policy" when she went on the Sunday morning shows following the attack on Benghazi, which killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.
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