Friday night’s pre-Thanksgiving data dump was larger than usual, but one document in particular caught the attention of the media: The House Intelligence Committee report on Benghazi, which, the AP reported, “found that the CIA and the military acted properly in responding to the 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, and asserted no wrongdoing by Obama administration appointees.”
Never mind that four Americans are still dead as a result of the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack that the administration blamed on a hateful YouTube video. Allegedly professional journalists responded to news of the report by declaring it “seriously the most hilarious Friday news dump ever,” penning acrostics and, as Gabriel Malor put it, “behaving like poo-flinging monkeys.”
That was Friday night’s fun fest. Today, however, Mollie Z. Hemingway, senior editor of The Federalist, is actually reading the report and not seeing the comedy in it.
I’m only on page 19 of House Intel Report but it reads mostly like based on intel community ass covering. But LOLGOP, amiright?
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) November 22, 2014
But what the report does do is make high-level media reports on Benghazi, such as this NYT, seem LAUGHABLE. pic.twitter.com/UNrxbSFKpX
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) November 22, 2014
See, the attack was fueled by anger at a YouTube video denigrating Islam.
That was NYT’s nut graph “exposing” Benghazi lies and literally nothing of it was true, according to this “explosive” GOP report
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) November 22, 2014
Not if you’re a reporter RT @Devilsmirk: @MZHemingway Shouldn't we be asking WHY this was ignored? pic.twitter.com/lqGM8HHxmG
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) November 22, 2014
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Back to this House Intel report that supposedly debunks claims. I can’t see how Finding #7 actually debunks what *on-the-record* guys said.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) November 22, 2014
On the record guys said they wanted to go help, were told “stand down, wait” and the report says they were, in fact, told to wait.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) November 22, 2014
report says orders to wait weren’t from HQ but the Fox News report never ever claimed it was. In fact, from “Bob” — officer right there.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) November 22, 2014
report lengthily explains WHY security guys were told they couldn’t go. Which is fine. But doesn’t refute claim they were told to wait.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) November 22, 2014
Similarly, report explains WHY CIA team delayed going to hospital for hours. But doesn’t refute claim they didn’t do anything to help.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) November 22, 2014
Report acknowledges that Rice’s claims were inaccurate. This is a refutation of concerns about Benghazi?
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) November 22, 2014
But if our intel community didn’t know a Sept. 11 assassination of an ambassador was a pre-planned terror attack, why are we mocking GOP?
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) November 22, 2014
Because I think that’s a STUNNING indictment of how wrong our intel community is on state of global Islamist violence.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) November 22, 2014
Honestly don’t see how any self-respecting reporter reads this and says “yep, all looks 100% good here. Boy that CIA was on the ball."
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) November 22, 2014
Because I just read this report and am kind of wondering if the CIA is going to get us all killed through sheer idiocy regarding Islamists.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) November 22, 2014
And the House Intel committee is not covered in glory here. Completely 100% missing the forest for the odd trees.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) November 22, 2014
Will any of the journalists who wrote off the report Friday night as “leftover derp” and “Benghafizzle” bother to investigate what it says, or was their job completed last night?
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