Posted on 10/31/2012 9:46:44 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Via the Daily Caller, Newt Gingrich thinks that the Benghazi scandal might blow wide open over the next two days, thanks to e-mails that he claims two networks now possess from the office of the National Security Advisor, Tom Donilon. According to a "reliable Senator" who tipped him to the information, Gingrich says that the e-mails came in response to the request to aid the consulate in Benghazi after the attack began, and asserted that the attack wasn't a terrorist action and therefore didn't need a response:
“There is a rumor — I want to be clear, it’s a rumor — that at least two networks have emails from the National Security Adviser’s office telling a counterterrorism group to stand down,” Gingrich said. “But they were a group in real-time trying to mobilize marines and C-130s and the fighter aircraft, and they were told explicitly by the White House stand down and do nothing. This is not a terrorist action. If that is true, and I’ve been told this by a fairly reliable U.S. senator, if that is true and comes out, I think it raises enormous questions about the president’s role, and Tom Donilon, the National Security Adviser’s role, the Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, who has taken it on his own shoulders, that he said don’t go. And that is, I think, very dubious, given that the president said he had instructions they are supposed to do everything they could to secure American personnel.”
That may not be the only scandal that Gingrich thinks will go prime time this week, either:
After noting that the rumor, if true, would have a substantial impact on the presidential election, Gingrich pointed to another possible “October surprise” in the coming days.
“The other big story, I think, that is going to break is on corruption and extraordinary waste in the solar power grants and direct involvement by the Obama White House, including the president, in the solar panel grants involving billions of dollars, and I suspect that’s going to break Wednesday and Thursday of this week,” Gingrich added.
Well, why won’t the “reliable Senator” speak up about the e-mails directly? I’d guess that the e-mails have been kept close to the vest at the White House end, but that someone on the other end in the intel community gave them to the “reliable Senator” either simultaneously as they were sent to the two networks, or the “reliable Senator” passed them along himself. It’s all about plausible deniability on the leak, especially since we won’t see any action in the Senate on Benghazi until after the election — not because it’s Democratic-controlled, but because they’re all back home with Congress out of session for the election.
Gingrich could be fishing, but specifying that two networks have the e-mails makes it sound like Gingrich got some inside dope. If these e-mails surface, it will create a huge headache for Barack Obama and the White House, which insisted that it didn’t deny assistance to Benghazi during the attack. Donilon works in the White House, directly answering to Obama himself. While Donilon would probably fall on his sword (or have an underling do so) if these e-mails say what Gingrich claims, there’s little chance that anyone will buy that Donilon or his staff took that decision on their own shoulders.
CNS News has another piece of the puzzle. At the time that the consulate in Benghazi came under attack, Obama and Leon Panetta were in a meeting together. What did they discuss? The White House refuses to say:
President Barack Obama met with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Vice President Joe Biden at the White House on Sept. 11, 2012 at 5:00 PM—just 55 minutes after the State Department notified the White House and the Pentagon that the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi was under attack.
The meeting between Obama, Panetta and Biden had been scheduled before the attack took place, and the Department of Defense is not commenting now on whether the three men were aware when they met that day of the ongoing attack or whether Obama used that meeting to discuss with his defense secretary what should be done to defend the U.S. personnel who at that very moment were fighting for their lives in Benghazi.
“Secretary Panetta met with President Obama, as the White House-provided scheduled indicates,” Lt. Col. Todd Breasseale, a Defense Department spokesman, told CNSNews.com on Tuesday. “However, neither the content nor the subject of discussions between the President and his advisors are appropriate for disclosure.”
It’s impossible to imagine that the subject of the attack on the consulate didn’t come up in this discussion. It’s also impossible to imagine that Donilon would have made the decision to “stand down” on his own while both the President and the Secretary of Defense were meeting in the White House after being notified of the attack. It’s equally impossible to imagine that Panetta would have made that decision without checking with Obama during the meeting that we know they had an hour into the attack.
This leak, if it occurs, would show that the intel community has no intention of taking the fall for this debacle. That leaves a very small number of people who could have made that decision — and who need to start explaining themselves ASAP.
Heads had better start rolling.
It is just a matter of time.
If one of the two networks is not Fox, I don’t expect to see these emails until after next Tuesday. It will take at least two weeks to authenticate them and get a second source.
Pinging a few of you to this article.
The million dollar question is whether these networks would report on these e-mails.
If they do so, they risk possibly causing Obama’s defeat next week. I’m not convinced that they’ll do that.
Is it just me? WHY does everyone have to announce in advance that something damaging to 0 is in the offing?
Nobody needs to know in advance and it only gives them time to ‘fix’ things.
Stand Down on Stand Down is the mantra of the day.
America’s shame:
Bay of Pigs - JFK
Benghazi - BHO II
At least Jimmy Carter attempted a rescue mission in Iran...
What a coincidence that Obama just happened to be in the White House that day instead of being on the campaign trail.
If you thought that one corrupt and complicit media outlet had emails that, if released, would damage Obama, how would you go about getting them released to the public?
Easy. Claim that a U.S. Senator and another media outlet also have the emails. The outlet that actually has the emails will then feel forced to scoop the story.
” It will take at least two weeks to authenticate them and get a second source.” and blame the entire mess on George Bush, Dan Rather apparently has copies of the emails showing Mitt Romney Gave the order to Stand Down.
I don't understand what you're saying because it's a sure bet that one of the two is not Fox.
Additionally, specifying that two networks have them might be an attempt to force their hands into reporting on it, before the "other" network beats them to it.
If these Networks are not Fox, I would not put it past them to sit on them
After the election. Can u say Drudge?
That’s how Drudge busted loose during the Klinton scandal.
Newsweek was sitting on the story, then Drudge unleashed it.
The rest is history.
The release of this email probably has more to do with the storm
News. It’s coming soon. Very soon.
Dream on, Newt. They are about as likely to run with the story as you are to be elected president on a write in vote next week.
Dream on, Newt. They are about as likely to run with the story as you are to be elected president on a write in vote next week.
I hope the email is not typed on an IBM Selectric with non-proportional, unkerned 12 pith Elite.
The media needs to get on board with the right questions to ask. From Bing West, about POTUS handing down explicit “execute orders” for a rescue mission into Libyan air space, and from me, about “cross-border authority,” which also can only be granted by the POTUS and nobody else.
Smooth move on Newt’s part. Whoever has one now has to worry about the competition getting the drop on them. Will likely prompt one to spill the beans sooner than they’d like.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.