CNBC: What Did White House Know and When?
According to GOP leaders, the White House knew the Libya attack was an act of terrorism 24 hours after it happened, and chose to deliberately mislead the American people for weeks.
So says, Sen. Ron Johnson, (R) Wisconsin, one of eight Republicans who fired off a letter to President Obama saying they were disturbed by statements from administration officials suggesting that the attack was a protest gone wrong rather than a terrorist attack.
“Attacking our consulate – if that’s not hostility toward America I don’t know what is. I think it’s pretty apparent the administration must have known,” said Johnson on The Kudlow Report.
However, following events on September 11th, Ambassador Susan Rice appeared on television and said the attacks were not premeditated. Instead she suggested the the attack was most likely spontaneous, in response to a film that depicts Islam in an unflattering light.
“We are calling on Ambassador Rice to explain the inaccuracies in her statements,” said Johnson. “It was apparent it was a pre-planned attack yet the Ambassador came on TV and misled the American public.”
Making the allegations all the more heated, Johnson and other Republicans believe the White House had intelligence that the violence was a terror attack as soon as 24 hours after it happened.
Yet, for over a week, Republicans charge the White House deliberately kept the public in the dark. Not until September 20th, they say, did the White House begin to use the language 'terror attack.'
“We found out far more in a New York Times article than in the briefing.”
The GOP outcry comes after published reports suggested a terrorist group may have been planning the assault for months.
According to Reuters, there were indications that members of a militant faction calling itself Ansar al Sharia - which translates as Supporters of Islamic Law - may have organized the attack in response to a drone attack earlier in the year.
In response, White House spokesman Jay Carney said it is "certainly the case that it is our view as an administration, and the president's view, that it was a terrorist attack."
