State Department Just Now Discovers 1,300 of Chris Stevens' Emails

On the one hand, these emails were requested for years; they seem to only be finding them now because courts are getting angry with them and threatening penalties for noncompliance.

There really isn't another hand. I guess it's good they're released before Hillary's testimony, but I also imagine they're keeping many back still.

Trey Gowdy, however, seems to be blaming the incompetence of previous Benghazi panels.

Rep. Trey Gowdy said Sunday that he is baffled that the previous seven congressional committees that investigated the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi failed to obtain emails U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens sent in the months before the attacks occurred.

"How did they miss Ambassador Stevens' emails? None of the seven previous committees bothered to access the emails of our ambassador," Gowdy said during an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation."

The tweet from the Committee seems to blame the State Department for not turning them over, but Gowdy seems to be blaming other Republican committeemen for not asking for them.

One email recently unearthed by Judicial Watch has Chris Stevens worried about his physical safety, and State Department hands in Washington worried about political implications.*

Two months before the fatal 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, then-Ambassador Chris Stevens requested 13 security personnel to help him safely travel around Libya, according to a cable reviewed by Fox News -- but he was turned down.

In the July 9, 2012 cable, Stevens reported that, "Overall security conditions continue to be unpredictable, with large numbers of armed groups and individuals not under control of the central government, and frequent clashes in Tripoli and other major population centers." The cable said 13 security personnel would be the "minimum" needed for "transportation security and incident response capability."

But a congressional source said Patrick Kennedy, a deputy to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, turned down the request.

The cable sent under Stevens' electronic signature shows that he was advocating for additional security and warning that the set-up did not meet State Department standards, as conditions deteriorated in the run-up to the attack that killed Stevens and three other Americans.

There's more to it, of course -- embassy personnel was attacked several times before this latest request. Each request for more security was denied by Patrick Kennedy.

* I just read this last part -- about a request to Stevens for advice on how to handle the political situation on the homefront -- but now cannot find it.

If you know where that's from, please point it out to me. It's bothering me-- I'm sure I didn't imagine it.

posted by Ace at 06:53 PM

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