Admiral Mullen and Ambassador Pickering Challenge Rep Issa (R-CA) on his Flip Flop on Their Benghazi Testimony

How can Republicans continue to lie on Benghazi and the media continues to back them up starting with ABC where Jonathan Karl should be fired for lying about the Benghazi emails he never saw.

When I read the letter this morning after following the link in my email from the Foreign Policy Update email, I just chuckled to myself.  To think that Issa (R-CA) and Chaffetz (R-UT) thought they could get the best of Former Chair of Joint Chiefs Mike Mullen not to mention Ambassador Thomas Pickering made me burst out laughing.  Not on their best day could those two GOP House members get the best of Admiral Mullen or Ambassador Pickering which is why they were chosen to head the investigation into Benghazi.  Mullen and Pickering have respect from both sides of the aisle for the work they have done over the years.  Issa and Chaffetz remind me of annoying little dogs nipping at the ankles of the people who actually work for a living running the Government unlike the 3-day work week Republicans.

Then there was this response before the Benghazi attack from our Ambassador in Libya Stevens when asked if he needed more military:

Chris Stevens was offered additional military security and said no. Stevens was leery of militarizing the diplomatic mission there.

There is one little detail of the GOP doesn't seem to want to talk about -- cutting security funding for embassies around the world.  That is what makes it so amazing that they wonder why more Americans will not get on their bandwagon to attack President Obama on Benghazi.  Republicans are not facing reality that their sanctimonious rhetoric is not playing well with a majority of Americans.  Would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when Issa received this letter from Admiral Mullen and Ambassador Pickering!

BY GORDON LUBOLD | MAY 16, 2013 

Mike Mullen and Thomas Pickering agreed to testify on Benghazi. In a letter released this morning, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen and Amb. Thomas Pickering have agreed to testify before a House panel investigating the attacks in Benghazi and the Obama administration's response. Mullen and Pickering served as co-chairs of the Accountability Review Board, charged by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with independently assessing what happened in Benghazi. But the letter says the two do not want a closed-door hearing, but a public one. 

To Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, from Mullen and Pickering: "Recently, you seem to have changed your position on the terms of our appearance, apparently asking for a transcribed interview behind closed doors. In our view, requiring such a closed-door proceeding before we testify publicly is an inappropriate precondition. Moreover, notwithstanding what your understanding may be, Ambassador Pickering did not agree to such a closed-door proceeding; his sole focus has been on testifying in an open hearing. If you and he were talking past each other, that is unfortunate." 

The letter also berates Issa for public comments about the ARB: "In the past weeks, members of your Committee have publicly criticized -- in both an open hearing and in the media -- the work of the Accountability Review Board. Having taken liberal license to call into question the Board's work, it is surprising that you now maintain that members of the Committee need a closed-door proceeding before being able to ask ‘informed questions' at a public hearing. The Benghazi Accountability Review Board is perhaps the most transparent accountability review board ever." 

May 16 reply by JDStuster

But political calculation or not, the e-mails in and of themselves don't change the fact that the military did not have forces close enough to make a difference. And twice, Ambassador Chris Stevens was offered additional military security and said no. Stevens was leery of militarizing the diplomatic mission there. As Fox and McClatchy reported this week and others have before, then-Africom Commander Gen. Carter Ham had phoned Stevens and asked if the embassy needed a special security team from the U.S. military. "Stevens told Ham it did not, the officials said. Weeks later, Stevens traveled to Germany for an already scheduled meeting with Ham at AFRICOM headquarters. During that meeting, Ham again offered additional military assets, and Stevens again said no, the two officials said."

A defense official told McClatchy: "He didn't say why. He just turned it down." And: "The offers of aid and Stevens' rejection of them have not been revealed in either the State Department's Administrative Review Board investigation of the Benghazi events or during any of the congressional hearings and reports that have been issued into what took place there. Stevens' deputy, Gregory Hicks, who might be expected to be aware of the ambassador's exchange with military leaders, was not asked about the offer of additional assistance during his appearance before a House of Representatives committee last week, and testimony has not been sought from Ham, who is now retired." Read McClatchy's Nancy Youssef's story, here. 

 AP's PDF of all the e-mails, here.

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How can Republicans continue to lie on Benghazi and the media backs them up starting with ABC where Jonathan Karl should be fired for lying on the emails.  Seems it is okay to lie about anything involving Obama when the facts make him look good.  Today Rove is saying Obama has been weakened by the scandals but he is dead wrong - this President and his followers are fighting back against the lies and feigned outrage by the GOP in Congress who run to microphones without facts.  Obama already knows he cannot trust Republicans in Congress as they have proved over and over again they put their Party and re-election over what is good for the Country.

Brief a House Committee and it makes the nightly news even on closed hearings.  The GOP staffers of these committees are just as bad as the Republicans they work for as their chances of keeping something classified is almost slim to none.  The GOP in Congress and their aides wanting to destroy Obama is putting our National Security at risk which they don't seem to mind if they can score points against Obama.  I am one about to be ex-Republican who is fed up with lies from Republicans to score points with wealthy donors and hard right to keep their jobs of fleecing the American people with their 3-day work week and numerous vacations.  No facts necessary just the GOP Talking Points so they can run to a microphone is all they seem to care about today.  Who makes up the Talking Points they use?  Is it Rush, Fox News, or Rove for the wealthy donors?

My money is on Rove this time for the talking points and advice to GOP in Congress after his comments were picked up by Huffington Post.  This from the Fox analyst who thought Romney could win with heavily Democratic Cleveland still out in Ohio and had his meltdown.  Typical Rove blaming the scandals on Obama knowing full well the GOP is manufacturing them with little facts but a lot of rhetoric.  This is right out of the Rove playbook which makes me think he is behind a lot of this like Benghazi, IRS, and AP with the rhetoric by the right.

There is a solution which is going to take hard work by a lot of people -- vote the Republican obstructionists out of Congress in 2014 and get the Country moving forward.