White House spokesman Jay Carney on Tuesday accused Republicans of leaking a falsified e-mail to the media in order to buttress their case that the Obama administration lied about aspects of the Benghazi crisis.
“They decided to fabricate portions of an e-mail and make up portions of an e-mail in order to fit a political narrative,” Carney said during the regular White House briefing. House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), the spokesman said, is “obsessed” with the “political benefits” of the Benghazi dispute.
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ABC purported to quote the operative paragraph of Rhodes’s e-mail, saying, “We must make sure that the talking points reflect all agency equities, including those of the State Department, and we don’t want to undermine the FBI investigation.”
Both articles concluded that this was proof that the State Department had been actively involved in removing information that showed a lack of security around the U.S. facility in Benghazi despite the known threat level. The talking points were used by Susan E. Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, in Sept. 16 television appearances that Republicans have charged were intended to mislead for political gain.
According to a copy of the e-mail obtained by The Washington Post and other media outlets on Tuesday, Rhodes never mentioned the State Department in his e-mail. “We need to resolve this in a way that respects all of the relevant equities, particularly the investigation” of the attack by the FBI, Rhodes wrote.
Obama spokesman accuses Republicans of leaking falsified Benghazi e-mail - The Washington Post