On Saturday, the whistleblowers' identities were revealed.
FoxNews: Their identities have been a well-guarded secret, known only to their high-powered lawyers and a handful of House lawmakers and staff. But now Fox News has learned the names of the self-described Benghazi “whistle-blowers” who are set to testify before a widely anticipated congressional hearing on Wednesday.On Sunday, House Oversight Committee chairman Darrell Issa revealed startling new information about the Benghazi terrorist attack on CBS's Face the Nation to an apoplectic Bob Schieffer, just one of many so-called journalists who made a point not to questioning any of this before their guy's reelection.
Appearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will be three career State Department officials: Gregory N. Hicks, the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Libya at the time of the Benghazi terrorist attacks; Mark I. Thompson, a former Marine and now the deputy coordinator for Operations in the agency’s Counterterrorism Bureau; and Eric Nordstrom, a diplomatic security officer who was the regional security officer in Libya, the top security officer in the country in the months leading up to the attacks.
U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on the U.S. outpost in Benghazi, Libya.
At the time of Stevens' death, Hicks became the highest-ranking American diplomat in Libya.
Nordstrom previously testified before the oversight committee, which is chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., in October 2012. Of the three witnesses, he is the only one who does not consider himself a whistle-blower. At last fall's hearing, however, Nordstrom made headlines by detailing for lawmakers the series of requests that he, Ambassador Stevens, and others had made for enhanced security at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi in the period preceding the attacks, requests mostly rejected by State Department superiors.
"For me the Taliban is on the inside of the [State Department] building," Nordstrom testified, angry over inadequate staffing at a time when the threat environment in Benghazi was deteriorating.
theRightScoop: Darrell Issa was on Face The Nation this morning to discuss the upcoming Benghazi hearings and shared portions of testimony from Greg Hicks on the show, mainly showing that Hicks says they knew from day one that this was a terrorist attack and never reported anything to do with a gathering or a protest. Hicks was also very upset that the administration called it a spontaneous protest and inquired why Susan Rice represented it that way. He never got a good answer.
Then today, a few more revelations have come to light that put Mrs. 'What-difference-does-it-make' under the magnifying glass and into hot water. First, it appears that Hillary sought an end-run around the counter-terrorism bureau on the night of the attack, according to one whistleblower...
And more damning came the latest breaking news that U.S. special forces were STOPPED from going to Benghazi during the attack!FoxNews: On the night of Sept. 11, as the Obama administration scrambled to respond to the Benghazi terror attacks, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and a key aide effectively tried to cut the department's own counterterrorism bureau out of the chain of reporting and decision-making, according to a "whistle-blower" witness from that bureau who will soon testify to the charge before Congress, Fox News has learned.
That witness is Mark I. Thompson, a former Marine and now the deputy coordinator for operations in the agency’s counterterrorism bureau. Sources tell Fox News Thompson will level the allegation against Clinton during testimony on Wednesday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif.
Fox News has also learned that another official from the counterterrorism bureau -- independently of Thompson -- voiced the same complaint about Clinton and Under Secretary for Management Patrick Kennedy to trusted national security colleagues back in October.
And what did President Barack Obama do? Attended a campaign fundraiser for his reelection, then went to bed. He didn't do a damn thing to help his own people.CBSNews: The deputy of slain U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens has told congressional investigators that a team of Special Forces prepared to fly from Tripoli to Benghazi during the Sept. 11, 2012 attacks was forbidden from doing so by U.S. Special Operations Command South Africa.
The account from Gregory Hicks is in stark contrast to assertions from the Obama administration, which insisted that nobody was ever told to stand down and that all available resources were utilized. Hicks gave private testimony to congressional investigators last month in advance of his upcoming appearance at a congressional hearing Wednesday.
According to excerpts released Monday, Hicks told investigators that SOCAFRICA commander Lt. Col. Gibson and his team were on their way to board a C-130 from Tripoli for Benghazi prior to an attack on a second U.S. compound "when [Col. Gibson] got a phone call from SOCAFRICA which said, 'you can't go now, you don't have the authority to go now.' And so they missed the flight ... They were told not to board the flight, so they missed it."
No assistance arrived from the U.S. military outside of Libya during the hours that Americans were under attack or trapped inside compounds by hostile forces armed with rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and AK-47 rifles.
It's past time for this President, his former Secretary of State, his administration and his policies to be held accountable, America. If not Solyndra, if not Fast & Furious, if not any number of scandals that this administration has escaped responsibility, they mustn't be allowed to get away with this dereliction.
ADDENDUM: Here's Levin's full monologue on Benghazi from last night's program...
"I sure as hell hope Hillary Clinton’s testimony was under oath, because she lied through her teeth!"
Rush added today that in a sane world what happened in Benghazi would finish the public career of Hillary Clinton...
UPDATE: The drone operator who flew over the Benghazi attack says, "I knew they were lying when they blamed a protest."
theRightScoop: Sean Hannity had the drone operator who flew over Benghazi the night of the attack call into his show yesterday. The drone operator says there should still be tape of what the drone recorded from the attack on the consulate and he’s surprised no one has filed a Freedom of Information Request (FOIA) to get it. He said it would absolutely clear up that this was indeed an attack and not an out-of-control protest. In fact, he said as soon as Susan Rice came out and blamed the protest, he knew they were lying about what they saw. He said it was way to complex to be anything other than a terrorist attack on the consulate.
