Watch Live: Second House Hearing on IRS Scandal

Susan Rice Says She Did Not Try to Mislead Congress About Libya Assault

Oct. 6, 2012 9:02am Madeleine Morgenstern

United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice has denied she tried to mislead Congress about the assault on the U.S. Consulate in Libya in calling it a “spontaneous” protest, saying she was acting on the best information she had.

In a letter to Republican senators released Friday, Rice said she “consistently qualified, in some instances twice, the information I provided as preliminary” when she went on television and said the attack on the consulate was the result of an anti-Muslim film. U.S. officials subsequently labeled the Sept. 11 assault that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans an act of terrorism linked to Al-Qaeda-affiliated groups.

“In my Sept. 16 Sunday show appearances, I was asked to provide the administration’s latest understanding of what happened in Benghazi,” Rice wrote. “In answering, I relied solely and squarely on the information the intelligence community provided to me and other senior U.S. officials, including through the daily intelligence briefings that present the latest reporting and analysis to policy makers. This information represented the intelligence community’s best, current assessment as of the date of my television appearances, and I went out of my way to ensure it was consistent with the information that was being given to Congress.”

On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Rice said the “best information at present” indicated the attack in Benghazi, Libya was a “spontaneous reaction” to the film.

In a joint statement, Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said they did not buy Rice’s explanation.

“The Obama administration failed to sufficiently protect our consulate and diplomats in Benghazi in the face of obvious and growing threats in eastern Libya in the months leading up to the September 11, 2012, terrorist attack,” they said. “To make matters worse, the administration mishandled its response to the attack and appears to have selected intelligence that mischaracterized the attack and misled the American people. ”

The senators said U.S. intelligence officials knew and informed the administration within hours that those who committed the assault were linked to Al-Qaeda.

“Either the Obama administration is misleading Congress and the American people, or it is blaming the entire failure on the intelligence community,” the senators said. They added the administration’s conduct after the attack “indicates a breathtaking level of incompetence.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

RELATED:

In CONTROL, Glenn Beck presents a passionate, fact-based case for guns that reveals why gun control isn’t really about controlling guns at all; it’s about controlling us. Find out more HERE.

Back to The Blaze »

Comments (171)

DADDYWOREAWHITEHAT
Posted on October 6, 2012 at 10:20am
“I relied solely..on information provided to me” aka I recited exactly what I was told to say by WH

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- inxy
  Posted on October 6, 2012 at 4:51pm
  She was setup by the WH to cover Obama’s bad foreign policy record. Don’t want the record shown before the election.
  
  http://freebeacon.com/revolt-of-the-spooks/
  
  Report this comment
- SLAPTHELEFT
  Posted on October 6, 2012 at 5:50pm
  Every one of these Marxist college educated people are fools.
  
  They’re just to damn dumb to knowmhowmstupid they look. Or it’s on purpose.
  
  Which is it blaze trolls? Enlighten us. I’ve given you your options.
  
  Report this comment
- johnpaulkuchtajr
  Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:18pm
  I give up!
  
  A Canadian news outlet produced a video that you can see at virginianewssource.com/jpk.
  
  Brian Lilley, Sun News, Ottawa, reports that not only was an American blogger in Cairo reporting a day before the attack on the US Embassy in Cairo that an attack was coming, he put it on the net.
  
  Then Brian interviews an Egyptian media man who advises that the Cairo newspapers were trumpeting the demonstration at the US Embassy in Cairo for WEEKS before 9/11/12. Knowing this, is it a great leap in logic to believe that Obama and Clinton sacrificed Ambassador Stevens in Benghazi? Is it not logical to assume that our CIA knew that an attack was coming and absolutely nothing was done by the State Department. Why no security? Why no rescue mission? Why put a gay man in a Muslim hell hole like Libya? Did those liberal slugs really believe that they can change the attitudes of Muslims about gays just by hanging the title of “Ambassador” on a gay man?
  
  This is “Fast and Furious East” and will generate trials for treason.
  Can we house Obama, Holder and Clinton with the Al Qaeda slugs they seem to promote? That should produce some great footage.
  
  Report this comment
- darkloch
  Posted on October 7, 2012 at 12:09am
  this is what happens when you think your smart. this is what happens when your given a trophy for participating. this is what happens when everyone says your special. this is what happens when you send a college ideology into the real world. you get a progressive know it all with no knowledge of the real world, which can not think for them selves and gets people killed.
  you see neally 90% of Obama cabinet, and 100% of his apointees have 0% experience for the post of which they are in.(look it up people). it is like i get a job at wal-mart and within that year i am promoted to become the CEO just because they like me.
  
  Report this comment
- HI_Don
  Posted on October 7, 2012 at 12:11am
  So the followup question should have been, “Mrs. Rice, when will your investigation of the complete incompetency of those that provided you that information conclude and how many people do you expect to fire when you find out who the idiot was if it wasn’t you?”
  
  Your not trying to get the American people to believe that our intel community is so incompetent that they didn’t know information that was available to the general public days before the attack, the common sense of looking at a calendar, or the ability to simply pick up the phone and ask the Libyan government “hey guys, what the heck was that all about?” Not only is that a line of poo, but I’ll tell you what my 25 years in military service tells me – there is still a lot more to this story besides a failed security blunder. This whole thing is still about covering up some operation going on that they don’t want you to know about and they made sure we could never do a decent investigation at the scene.
  Question: Why did they selectively refuse to contract security in this hotbed as was standard procedure for everywhere else? http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2931778/posts
  
  Report this comment
- MIBUGNU2
  Posted on October 7, 2012 at 12:26am
  Hillary and Obama throwing this Lady “Under the Bus”
  this administration is really good at doing that………
  Cover the BOSS’s AZZ no matter what….
  
  Report this comment
- MIBUGNU2
  Posted on October 7, 2012 at 12:32am
  It amazes me how STUPID these inteligent people can be..
  
  Report this comment
- BreeZee
  Posted on October 7, 2012 at 6:19am
  “Rice has denied she tried to mislead Congress”
  She’s telling the truth, she didn’t try to mislead,
  she DID mislead!
  
  Report this comment
- mersey
  Posted on October 7, 2012 at 7:02am
  Susan Rice is a puppet and she will say whatever the regime tells her to say.
  
  Report this comment
- poorrichard09
  Posted on October 7, 2012 at 8:59am
  Um, she could have asked the president of Libya-he said it was terrorists from the git go.
  
  Report this comment
- kat747
  Posted on October 7, 2012 at 9:46am
  @JohnPaul
  I did not know that, but it did NOT surprise me.
  Hopefully Hillary will be the next Ambassador to Egypt.
  
  Report this comment
- johnpaulkuchtajr
  Posted on October 7, 2012 at 11:19am
  @KAT747,
  
  Yep, nobody knows about the fact that the demonstration in Cairo was a VERY planned event with pre-printed, color-coordinated signs, newspaper adverts trumpeting the occasion on 9/11/12 and, supposedly, paid demonstrators!
  
  Those facts just don’t fit the mainstream narrative, do they? THE MSM is all about the spontaneous nature of the gathering of subhumans.
  
  Guess who has failed to run with that bit of news? Go on, take a guess. I can’t give you the answer or my comment will never be printed.
  
  Report this comment
- SUNTZU
  Posted on October 7, 2012 at 11:24am
  Just another PAWN in the game.
  
  Just another PAWN in the game.
  
  Report this comment
- wordsofwisdom
  Posted on October 7, 2012 at 1:45pm
  Me thinks she speaks with forked tongue? I think this song is about her kind called “The Devils Song” http://soundcloud.com/musicby-carl/the-devils-song#share
  
  Report this comment
- voxpopuli2012
  Posted on October 8, 2012 at 8:55am
  To INXY, if she was set up by the administration, why hasn’t she resigned? I can’t conceive of any professional person who has been set up to look like a fool by his/her employer, continuing to willingly work in such situations. She either knew that the information was false; willingly allowed herself to be deceived, or she’s a fool. And what is this letter business? I think that she should be called to testify under oath.
  
  Report this comment
- Secret Squirrel
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 9:54am
  .
  LIAR!
  A week after we all knew it was a terrorist attack,
  she went on five Sunday morning news shows and
  said it was a spontaneous demonstration.
  
  These people are paid highly to think you’re stupid.
  
  Report this comment
- PATTY HENRY
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 10:27am
  WELL, KID, TOO BAD. Since this is American History in the making, Ambassador RICE will now ALWAYS be remembered as the UN AMBASSADOR who LIED. All of you left-wing Obama nuts need to understand that by selling your soul and throwing out your own integrity, you will part of a motley crew of gutless, character-less, un-Patriotic pathetic role models for what NOT TO BE.
  
  Report this comment
- Gold Coin & Economic News
  Posted on October 9, 2012 at 11:24pm
  These fools have no idea how to run a country, they can’t even figure out who’s in charge.
  
  Report this comment
dublinthewagons
Posted on October 6, 2012 at 10:13am
Tell a lie. Make it big. Tell it often. Only a fool will believe it. Especially when you get caught and change it every time the sun comes up. It’s the altitude in Washington. Make one an air head.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Ted Zeppelin
Posted on October 6, 2012 at 10:10am
.
Susan Rice didn’t just try to mislead Congress. She was successful in purposely misleading Congress on the orders of Obama.

Be good little Useful Idiot Democrats. Learn to Love the Lies of the Liberal Left. The List Lengthens

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- MIBUGNU2
  Posted on October 7, 2012 at 12:29am
  Obama and Holder will cover for her…
  
  Report this comment
Chromo200
Posted on October 6, 2012 at 10:08am
1 she lies …
2. If her boss threw her under the bus then she should resign in protest.

Either way he should leave and go back to some office mail room.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- dublinthewagons
  Posted on October 6, 2012 at 10:22am
  Chromo: its male room
  
  Report this comment
OlefromMN
Posted on October 6, 2012 at 10:03am
Has anybody kept a count on how many Obama Administration stooges have had to come out and say “I didn’t lie…”? We must have at least one such statement from each of his peeps. They all have lied and all are keeping the fog rolling as to blur the true disaster that is President #44. Let’s move onto President #45 this Nov. and get some real hope for change.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Carborendum
  Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:50pm
  This would be a good project. Can we get a youtube video put together of each of Obama’s “sacrificial lamb of the day” saying something like “I didn’t lie, I just told you an unbelievable, counterintuitive, completely falsified, turned out to be dead wrong line that I thought was the correct thing at the time?
  
  Report this comment
rockymtngal
Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:56am
Rice, like Obama & others in his administration, lie like it’s 2nd nature to them. Good grief! Obama was still using the “video excuse” when he addressed the UN. That’ what happens when you’re MIA during briefings he should be attending Obama. No matter which way you slice the pie…it’s always a lie.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
13th Imam
Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:53am
Susie was probably the architect of the deal that brought the weapons to Lybia that killed the ambassador in the first place. Barry, and Susie and Vallerie had their fingerprints all over those weapons that the 4 murdered Americans were looking for. She acted stupidly.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Mil Mom
  Posted on October 6, 2012 at 4:25pm
  @3th Imam
  Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:53am
  
  Susie was probably the architect of the deal that brought the weapons to Lybia that killed the ambassador in the first place. Barry, and Susie and Vallerie had their fingerprints all over those weapons that the 4 murdered Americans were looking for. She acted stupidly
  ***
  Oh no! You forgot hillary and huma, they’ll feel left out because if we accuse these people, when they’re with their peeps they’re accepting accolades because they got away with it!
  
  Report this comment
grimmster
Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:53am
Ironic that the only qualifications rice has to be ambassador to the UN, is the fact she was wait,she has no qualifications……..Just another lieing obama appointee…….

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
MiCurmudgeon
Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:52am
Her lips moved…..she lied!!

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
texas heat
Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:41am
Another POS!

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- HKS
  Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:52am
  Branded a lier for life.
  
  Report this comment
term limits for congress
Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:39am
Stooge! …and, the unemployment rate is 7.8%

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- DrunkGOP_Hack
  Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:41am
  Dumb brawd
  
  Report this comment
DEMOCRATS.ARE.EVIL
Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:34am
Democrats are good people. They never lie. They are angels who only want the best for you. So, do as they say, don’t question them, and they’ll protect you and make sure you get your fair share…after, like the ambulance-chasing attorneys most of them in power are, they take their cut of the tax booty off the top of course.

But, if your skin color is white, and you don’t swallow their warped and ungodly ideology whole and don’t strive to be a part of their ruling class, you won’t hold dominion over the little people of color, and you’ll be vanquished from Nirvana…stripped of your guns and ability to make a living for yourself.

God loves Democrats, even if they do despise him…but, maybe not.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12
Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:32am
The bottom line regardless of which Obama parrot spins, misleads and distorts is as House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King stated…

“What I believe now is that the president is so fixated on convincing the American people that we have defeated al-Qaeda and that al-Qaeda is no longer a real threat by saying this was a terrorist attack, or by acknowledge a terrorist attack, it would be looked upon as a defeat for his policies against al-Qaeda.”

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- All Pro
  Posted on October 6, 2012 at 10:30am
  Maybe someone should ask Mr King WHY the CIA is recruiting, training, arming and funding Al Qaeda!
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZui1YVCVTY&feature=player_embedded
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bL58pyB7kYM
  
  RON PAUL WAS RIGHT!
  
  Report this comment
- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on October 6, 2012 at 10:41am
  ALL PRO, You are after all referring to one of our alphabet soup agencies that is controlled by the commander in chief, 0bama, right?
  
  Report this comment
- TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12
  Posted on October 6, 2012 at 11:07am
  ALL PRO. I’ll be awaiting your response from King (you WILL be asking right?) and in the meantime… I’ll ask Ron Paul why he felt it necessary to parrot Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda (giving aid and comfort to our enemies), Obama, Rearend J. Wright and a host of other America haters, apologizers and blame America firsters…
  
  Sound like a plan???
  
  Report this comment
Tri-ox
Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:27am
Why has this lying b*tch not been arrested? Rice, SOS Clinton and obama belong in Gitmo.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- progressiveslayer
  Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:36am
  They belong in hell for the destruction they’ve wrought.
  
  Report this comment
- kickagrandma
  Posted on October 6, 2012 at 10:46am
  @PROGRESSIVESLAYER ~~~ They are well on their way!
  
  Report this comment
hyjyljyj
Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:26am
“I relied solely and squarely on the information the intelligence community provided to me.”

And we all know how well that worked for GW Bush and Colin Powell in 2003.

(BTW, speaking of factual data…they WERE training Ansar al-Islam, which is al Qaeda-affiliated terrorists in northern Iraq, using a jet fuselage to practice hijacking; they DID find nerve gas and other weapons of mass destruction in Iraq; they DID have proof of biological and chemical weapons labs…so the intel was 100% correct after all, vindicating Bush as a patriot with more leadership in his left kneecap than in Fauxbama’s entire admin.)

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
RIGS
Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:23am
She tells the truth like all of the knucle heads in obamas gang.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
leftcoastslut
Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:19am
wonder if the bumps in the road, POTUS referred to a few weeks ago, was actually arms and legs that fell off of our diplomats after they were drug through the streets in a wild feeding frenzy?

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
mrunner
Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:17am
I think Susan needs to be reassigned. As I understand it, the Libya Ambassador position is available. Send her there- new office in Bengazi, no armored vehicle, no body guards. I am sure that she can take the presidents lead and spend her time apologizing to our enemies. She will believe that is a successful strategy- until they rape, sodomize and behead her…

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
doomytram
Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:14am
The Video ate my baby. How many hits does it take for a youtube video to take down the middle east?
Obozo and Hillary removed the bullets from the guns and dismantled the security of our Embassy. The video caused this and it wasn’t terrorism said the Obozoid Rice.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- mike551
  Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:59am
  Or was it the dingo……….my bad obama ate the dingo!
  
  Report this comment
HKS
Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:12am
Liberals and lies are one and the same. That’s why the media is worthless, mostly liberals, so expect nothing but lies.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
progressiveslayer
Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:12am
Susan save it for the suckers who voted for your boss because rational people don’t believe the BS coming out of the regime and you will understand clearly what I mean on November 6th.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- dublinthewagons
  Posted on October 6, 2012 at 10:20am
  January 21, 2013 There will be a bunch of pathological liars looking for jobs.
  Don’t let them near the cash register or the check book.
  
  Report this comment
OneTermPresident
Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:12am
“In answering, I relied solely and squarely on the information the intelligence community provided to me and other senior U.S. officials, including through the daily intelligence briefings that present the latest reporting and analysis to policy makers.”

There you have it… Everyone Obama has put in place concerning security is unqualified and inept.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Mil Mom
  Posted on October 6, 2012 at 4:36pm
  @OneTermPresident
  Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:12am
  
  “In answering, I relied solely and squarely on the information the intelligence community provided to me and other senior U.S. officials, including through the daily intelligence briefings that present the latest reporting and analysis to policy makers.”
  
  There you have it… Everyone Obama has put in place concerning security is unqualified and inept
  ***
  Wasn’t it the day before that carney had said that it was “Obviously terrorism”? They need to get their intelligence briefings and their press spokesman briefings from the same teleprompter.
  
  Report this comment
kickagrandma
Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:08am
I am stunned by the left’s ability to lie straight-faced. Any doubt whose they are?

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
OneTermPresident
Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:07am
saying she was acting on the best information she had…. minus a calendar.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
snapper451
Posted on October 6, 2012 at 9:07am
Throw her in jail She is a criminal.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Enchanted
  Posted on October 6, 2012 at 11:44am
  No, not until after Romney is inaugurated. If you jail her now obama will just pardon her. It is best to wait until after to put all of these criminals (most of obama’s czars and cabinet members) in jail.
  
  Report this comment
- Mil Mom
  Posted on October 6, 2012 at 4:41pm
  @Enchanted
  Posted on October 6, 2012 at 11:44am
  
  No, not until after Romney is inaugurated. If you jail her now obama will just pardon her. It is best to wait until after to put all of these criminals (most of obama’s czars and cabinet members) in jail
  ***
  They say one of his first executive orders pardoned himself retroactively, I’m sure plouffe, axelrod, and rhambo made sure he did one for the co-conspirators!
  
  Report this comment

It appears that you have Javascript Disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser preferences for a better user experience on TheBlaze. You can not comment without Javascript enabled.