podesta-emails
-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----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=5a6T
-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/05/22/sorry-gop-there-s-no-smoking-gun-in-hillary-clinton-s-benghazi-emails.html
Sorry, GOP. There’s No Smoking Gun In Hillary Clinton’s Benghazi Emails.
Conspiracy-minded conservatives, be warned: The trove of Clinton emails
don’t prove much about her culpability for the infamous 9/11 anniversary
attacks.
If Republicans were looking for a silver bullet to use against Democratic
presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, the State Department’s Friday
document dump about Benghazi wasn’t it.
There’s no illicit weapons Libyan program to be found in the emails, as
some have speculated. No ‘stand-down’ order. Just a hectic flow of
information to and from Hillary Clinton—about danger, about death, and
ultimately, about condolences.
The State Department released Friday 296 emails involving Hillary Clinton
during her tenure as Secretary of State, from 2009 to 2013. The documents
include some 300 emails related to Benghazi, which were turned over to the
Congressional committee investigating the 2012 attacks. The attacks left
four Americans dead, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya.
The hundreds of emails released by the agency show a Secretary of State who
was deeply engaged on Libyan issues—but usually just in a crisis. While
Clinton was a key proponent of intervening in Libya to protect civilians
under threat from then-Libyan leader Moammar Qadhafi, her emails show that
she took a largely hands off approach towards the country.
Of course, this document trove is an incomplete view, at best. It excludes
any phone calls, briefings or memos. It doesn’t include the emails that
were deleted by Clinton—and we know there were many. (Republicans noted
“inexplicable gaps” in Secretary Clinton’s emails over several time
periods, such as from Oct. 2011 to Jan. 2012, and from April 2012 to July
2012. ) And it was released by a State Department that was formerly helmed
by Clinton and is still part of a Democratic administration.
But according to her Benghazi-related email traffic, Clinton appears to be
only been involved at times of crisis and even then deferred to those on
the ground, including Stevens and friends outside government.
Clinton’s emails show that the late Amb. Christopher Stevens had multiple
brushes with danger in Benghazi in 2011—more than a year before the
September 2012 attacks that would ultimately take his life.
Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton received an update about Stevens’
2011 security situation: that there had been intelligence indicating a
credible threat to his safety, and that officials were moving swiftly out
of the hotel he was staying at in Benghazi.
“There is credible threat info against the hotel that our team is using—and
the rest of the Intl community is using, for that matter… DS [Diplomatic
Security] going to evacuate our people to alt locations. Info suggested
attack in next 24-48 hours,” wrote top Clinton aide Jacob Sullivan in an
email to Clinton on June 10, 2011, with the subject line, ‘Hotel in
Benghazi.’
At the time Stevens was a special envoy to Libya, and the U.S. had joined a
U.N. campaign to set up a no-fly zone to assist rebels in the overthrow of
Muammar Qadhafi.
In a separate incident, in April 2011, a State Department official wrote:
“The situation in Ajdabiyah has worsened to the point Stevens is
considering departure from Benghazi. The envoy’s delegation is currently
doing a phased checkout (paying the hotel bills, moving some comms to the
boat, etc). He will monitor the situation to see if it deteriorates
further, but no decision has been made on departure.”
The communications received by the Secretary of State illustrate the fast
pace of security decisions made on the ground—but don’t show Clinton with a
direct role in these decisions. For example, there’s no indication that
Clinton intervened in the decision-making process when told about Stevens’
2011 security scares.
Clinton was heavily criticized when it emerged in March
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/us/politics/hillary-clintons-use-of-private-email-at-state-department-raises-flags.html>
that
she had used a private email server to conduct business while she was
Secretary of State. Her private email accounts prevented the normal process
of archiving official government records. Clinton’s staff had turned over
some 55,000 pages of email correspondence to the State Department in
December 2014.
Democrats on the Select Benghazi Committee had urged the release of
Benghazi-related emails for months. Clinton herself had urged the State
Department to swiftly publish the emails, telling reporters
<http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/20/us-usa-clinton-emails-idUSKBN0O40JJ20150520>
earlier
this week that she wanted them in the public domain as soon as possible.
“I am pleased that the State Department released the complete set of
Secretary Clinton’s emails about Benghazi—as Democrats requested months
ago,” said Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the committee.
The American people can now read all of these emails and see for themselves
that they contain no evidence to back up claims that Secretary Clinton
ordered a stand-down, approved an illicit weapons program, or any other
wild allegation Republicans have made for years.
In the time between the June 2011 security scare and the September 2012
terrorist attacks, the mood in Libya ebbed and flowed—Stevens left Libya in
November 2011 before returning as U.S. ambassador in May 2012.
In July, Libya held national elections which went off well, leading to
people heralding the country worldwide. Meanwhile, Islamist flags had
emerged on buildings throughout Benghazi.
The correspondence in summer 2012 shows a somewhat positive situation in
Libya: the last email from Stevens that Clinton receives paints a rosy
picture: in July 2012 Sen. John McCain is in Tripoli, Libya, being lauded
for his support of the rebels.
“The atmosphere in Tripoli is very festive,” Stevens wrote in one email on
July 7, 2012. “The gov’t declared today a holiday and people are driving
around honking and waving flags and making peace sign gestures… McCain was
applauded and thanked for his support wherever we went.”
The world’s focus doesn’t dwell on Libya, and Clinton doesn’t receive
additional emails about Benghazi again until the 2012 attacks on U.S.
facilities.
By September 2012, the situation in Libya had deteriorated. In a diary entry
<http://foreignpolicy.com/2013/06/26/chris-stevens-benghazi-diary-reveals-his-brooding-hopeful-final-days/>
on
Sept. 6, Stevens wrote about a “security vacuum” and “dicey conditions,”
even suggesting that he was on an “Islamist ‘hit list’ in Benghazi.”
On the fateful day of Sept. 11, 2012, at approximately 4 p.m. in
Washington, D.C., the first attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound
occurred. Clinton had previously testified (PDF
<http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-113shrg86780/pdf/CHRG-113shrg86780.pdf>)
that she was at the State Department that day, which could explain why she
did not send or receive a large volume of emails about Benghazi.
She becomes more active on emails that evening, and at 11:37 p.m., she
receives word through her Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills that the Libyan
government had confirmed Amb. Steven’s death.
“Cheryl told me the Libyans confirmed his death. Should we announce tonight
or wait until morning?” Clinton wrote in an email to top aides.
“The situation has worsened to the point Stevens is considering departure
from Benghazi. The envoy's delegation is currently doing a phased checkout.”
Throughout the morning after the initial attacks she has a lot of activity:
in particular she received a large number of messages expressing
condolences to her and the State Department over the death of the
ambassador.
“The Ambassador was a perfect role model of the kind of person we need
representing us around the world, and the others had so much to give—and
already had given so much,” said former Secretary of Defense Bob Gates.
“What a wonderful, strong and moving statement by your boss. please tell
her how much Sen. McCain appreciated it. Me too,” wrote a top national
security aide for Sen. John McCain.
That weekend, Clinton continued to exchange emails on the Benghazi issue.
On Saturday Sept. 15, the day before Susan Rice appeared on cable shows to
make the since-rescinded claim that the Benghazi attacks were the result of
protests-turned-violent, Clinton was involved arranging calls from her home
and the collection of an action memo via classified courier.
The emails give insight into how Clinton operated at the time: using
classified couriers to move memos and getting on the phone with other world
leaders, rather than using email.
None of the released emails show Clinton being involved with Rice’s
appearance on the Sunday shows, or the discussion of what Rice should say.
She does, however, receive a transcript of what Rice would eventually say.
Findings of the Republican-led Select committee on Benghazi may not be
released
<https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-04-22/release-of-benghazi-report-on-hillary-clinton-likely-pushed-to-election-season>until
sometime in 2016, in the thick of campaign season.
If the Select Committee continues to operate through the end of the 2015,
its estimated cost will rise to $6 million dollars. The House Select
Committee on Benghazi was established in May 2014. If it continues through
to the end of 2015, it will have been investigating for 19 months—longer
than other major, comparable investigations.
(To compare, the joint inquiry into the intelligence community’s actions
with regard to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks took less than a year. The Senate
Watergate committee operated for about 17 months before presenting its
findings. And the Warren Commission on the assassination of President
Kennedy operated for under a year.)
The release of Friday’s Benghazi-related emails has itself been months in
the waiting: the State Department had been going through an excruciating
process of assessing the emails for any information that would show
sensitive or personally identifiable information, and then removing it. The
State Department will now turn its attention to performing the same task on
thousands of Clinton emails that are not related to Benghazi.
In fact, Hillary Clinton’s email correspondence has the potential to
generate headlines at least through the end of the year, acting as a
disruptive force that distracts from her presidential campaign.
For Republican committee chairman Trey Gowdy, the release of these emails
are just the first step in a long slog to “collect and evaluate all of the
relevant and material information necessary.” Gowdy said that the emails
released Friday had all been exclusively reviewed and released only after
review by her own lawyers.
Earlier this week, a federal judge had dismissed a State Department plan to
release her email archives, comprised of some 55,000 pages of emails, by
January 2016. Instead, the judge asked the State Department to come up with
a plan to gradually release the emails in stages.
In the nearer term, Hillary Clinton is expected to appear before the Select
Committee on Benghazi, Gowdy said last week
<http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/rep-gowdy-says-no-clinton-testimony-until-documents-turned-over-117964.html>
that
he will not schedule the former Secretary of State’s testimony until the
State Department turns over more documents.
“The Select Committee should schedule Secretary Clinton’s public testimony
now and stop wasting taxpayer money dragging out this political charade to
harm Secretary Clinton’s bid for president,” Cummings, a Democrat, said
Friday.
The New York Times obtained and published about a third of the Clinton
Benghazi emails earlier this week, revealing
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/22/us/politics/a-closer-look-at-hillary-clintons-emails-on-benghazi.html?contentCollection=us&action=click&module=NextInCollection®ion=Footer&pgtype=article>
that
longtime Clinton friend Sidney Blumenthal had frequently written to her
about Libya, serving as a source of information about the country before
and after the 2012 attacks.
While Blumenthal had originally blamed demonstrators in the American
diplomatic facility in Benghazi, a subsequent memo fingered a Libyan
terrorist group for the attacks, arguing that they had used the
demonstrations as cover for the violence. This week, the Select Committee
on Benghazi subpoenaed Blumenthal to appear before the panel.
On Fri, May 22, 2015 at 4:16 PM, Tyson Brody <[email protected]>
wrote:
>
>
>
> http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-05-22/how-bad-spin-works-a-handy-lesson-from-the-clinton-blumenthal-e-mails
>
> How Bad Spin Works: A Handy Lesson from the Clinton/Blumenthal E-Mails
>
> May 22, 2015 3:46 PM EDT
>
> The sort of intra-Washington chicanery that is not scandalous, but not
> often revealed.
>
> The just-released batch of emails from Hillary Clinton's tenure as
> Secretary of State is full of sausage-making. It's the sort of
> intra-Washington chicanery that is not scandalous, but not often revealed,
> because human beings are capable of embarrassment. One of the more
> excruciating exchanges comes when Sidney Blumenthal, the journalist turned
> Clinton confidant, offered up pro bono spin work during the weeks before
> the 2012 election when Republicans started to ask why the attack on
> America's consulate in Benghazi had not been stopped.
>
> On the morning of October 1, journalist Craig Unger—best known for the
> 2004 cui bono bestseller House of Bush, House of Saud—published a column in
> Salon that revealed a "Jimmy Carter strategy" being formulated by Mitt
> Romney's presidential campaign.
>
> "According to a highly reliable source," wrote Unger, "as Mitt Romney and
> President Barack Obama prepare for the first presidential debate Wednesday
> night, top Republican operatives are primed to unleash a new two-pronged
> offensive that will attack Obama as weak on national security, and will be
> based, in part, on new intelligence information regarding the attacks in
> Libya that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens on Sept. 11."
>
> More than that, the "scoop" made no sense.
>
> This source of this scoop, wrote Unger, had "firsthand knowledge of
> private, high-level conversations in the Romney camp that took place in
> Washington, D.C., last week." According to the source, "over and over again
> they talked about how it would be just like Jimmy Carter’s failed raid [on
> Iran in 1980]," and "they feel it is going to give them a last-minute
> landslide in the election." Curiously, the source predicted that the
> strategy would fail.
>
> The story went up at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-three minutes later,
> Blumenthal sent Hillary Clinton an email with the text of the story and the
> subject "Romney's last gambit. Got done and published." In other words,
> Blumenthal, formerly a Salon columnist, was taking credit for the Romney
> story being placed in Salon.
>
> In a now-deleted tweet, Romney strategist Stu Stevens snarked that it was
> "a mistake" to invite Blumenthal into a secret strategy session. "This was
> just a joke," Stevens added in an e-mail, "highlighting he knew nothing."
>
> More than that, the "scoop" made no sense. The Romney campaign was based
> in Boston, not Washington. The idea of hitting the White House over the
> Benghazi attacks was hardly being dreamed up in secret—Romney had done it
> weeks earlier, and been chastened by a media blowback. Surrogates, however,
> continued to talk plenty about Benghazi. The only point to the story was
> that it made Romney's team look callow, which was how allies of the Obama
> administration wanted them to look.
>
> The running theme of Blumenthal's missives to his "old friend," the
> Democratic frontrunner, is that Blumenthal is a gusher of terrible advice.
> The revelation of these emails is that even terrible advice could pay off,
> if the media was willing to accept a narrative that made the Clintons'
> enemies look malicious. Republicans did not quite need a FOIA to discover
> that, but it certainly didn't hur
>
ℹ️ Document Details
SHA-256
cc75b25d969da89452a0f841a4eec0b7ca4319946e822de8342dc585d375c4f0
Dataset
podesta-emails
Document Type
email
Comments 0