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Obama Criticizes Republicans for Focusing on Benghazi, Obamacare

Photo Credit: REUTERS / KEVIN LAMARQUEPresident Barack Obama chastised his Republican opponents on Monday for focusing criticism on the events surrounding the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, and on his signature healthcare law.

“The debate we’re having now is about what, Benghazi? Obamacare? And it becomes this endless loop. It’s not serious. It’s not speaking to the real concerns that people have,” Obama said.

He was speaking to more than 60 people at a fundraising dinner for Democratic candidates for the House of Representatives.

The event took place at a physician’s home in the Washington suburb of Potomac, Maryland, as Obama seeks to persuade Democrats to organize for a voter turnout effort to prevent Republicans from ousting Democrats from control of the Senate and from building on their majority in the House.

Republicans in the House have begun a new investigation of the deaths of the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three other Americans during a militant attack on September 11, 2012.

Read more from this story HERE.

WATCH: Dianne Feinstein Calls GOP Push for More Benghazi Probes a ‘Lynch Mob’

Photo Credit: Washington Examiner Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein has called the demand by Capitol Hill Republicans for more Benghazi investigations a “lynch mob,” saying the matter already has received sufficient congressional oversight.

“I think it’s ridiculous. I think it’s a hunting mission for a lynch mob,” said the California Democrat during an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union” that aired Sunday.

Feinstein said several congressional committees, including her own, already have investigated the 2012 attacks that killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. And despite Republican accusations that the Obama administration has lied about its response to the attacks, she suggested those reports showed no maleficence by the White House.

When asked by show host Candy Crowley if those reports answered all pertinent questions regarding the attacks, Feinstein responded; “I believe they have.”

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Unbelievable: Watch Newswoman Claim Ambassador Stevens Killed In Benghazi Attack By Smoke Inhalation

Photo Credit: YouTube Eleanor Clift, the Newsweek and Daily Beast contributor, asserted today on The McLaughlin Group that Ambassador Christopher Stevens was not murdered at the embassy in Benghazi.

A portion of the conversation:

Eleanor Clift: I would like to point out Ambassador Stevens was not murdered. He died of smoke inhalation in the safe room in that CIA installation.

Susan Ferrechio: I don’t think that’s a fact, Eleanor.

Clift: I think that is a fact.

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Poll: Trust in Government Down 44 Percent Among GOP in Last Decade

Photo Credit: REUTERSWhen it comes to Washington controversies, most American voters think Benghazi, the IRS and the government’s electronic surveillance program are serious matters. A Fox News poll also finds that less than four in 10 voters trust the federal government.

The new poll, released Thursday, finds 37 percent of voters answer “yes” when asked: “would you say you generally trust the federal government?” Six in 10 say they don’t trust the government, down a touch from a high of 62 percent (June 2013 and July 2011).

One thing that is sure to erode trust is a scandal, and 78 percent of voters consider the Obama administration’s handling of the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi a serious matter, including 52 percent who say “very serious.” Just over half (53 percent) see government surveillance of everyday Americans as “very serious” and 44 percent feel that way about the IRS targeting conservative groups.

Partisanship also shapes views on trustworthiness. In 2002, the first time this question was asked on a Fox News poll, 47 percent of Democrats said yes, they trust the government. That increased to 53 percent in February 2009, about a month after President Obama was inaugurated, and it stands at 55 percent in the new poll. The trend is reversed and more dramatic among Republicans: 63 percent trusted the government in 2002, while 32 percent felt that way in 2009 and just 19 percent trust Uncle Sam today.

For independents, trust was 53 percent in 2002, 35 percent in 2009 and 31 percent now.

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Issa: ‘Slippery’ State Dept. Not Cooperating on Benghazi Documents

Photo Credit: REUTERSBy Cathy Burke.

House Oversight Committee head Darrell Issa slammed the State Department Thursday for using “slippery tactics” to weasel out of providing documents related to the 2012 Benghazi attack – and issued a new subpoena to haul Secretary of State John Kerry before the panel.

The California Republican said he’d kept his part of a bargain – lifting an initial May 21 date for Kerry to go before the committee – but the State Department has “back tracked,” The Hill reports.

“With this State Department’s slippery tactics, it’s no wonder our friends in the world are losing faith in us and our adversaries doubt our credibility,” Issa said in a blistering statement.

A second subpoena for Kerry to appear May 29 was issued, and Issa warned “further accommodation will not be possible,” The Hill reports.

“I lifted the subpoena requiring Secretary Kerry to testify on May 21 because the State Department made reasonable arguments for an accommodation and told our Committee they were seeking a suitable alternative date for his testimony on a voluntary basis,” Issa’s statement said.

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Photo Credit: Fox News Lawmakers Say Rice’s Story Has ‘Absolutely Collapsed’ Amid More Questions on Benghazi Account

By Catherine Herridge.

Leading Republican senators charged Thursday that National Security Adviser Susan Rice’s public account of the Benghazi terror attack has now “absolutely collapsed,” citing inaccuracies in her statements not only on the origin of the attack but the level of security at the U.S. compound.

The lawmakers said she is clearly “frustrated” that her story is falling apart, a day after Rice appeared to scoff at a question on whether a congressional select committee probe would reveal new evidence. “Danged if I know,” Rice said in response to the question Wednesday.

“She’s frustrated this won’t go away,”Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told reporters at a Capitol Hill news conference along with Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H. “She’s frustrated that she appeared on national television and told a story about Benghazi that has absolutely collapsed.”

Aside from wrongly linking an anti-Islam video to the Benghazi attack — when U.S. personnel were reporting a direct assault by Ansar al-Sharia within the first 24 hours — Rice’s statements about U.S. consulate security are under fresh scrutiny.

On three network Sunday shows – ABC’s “This Week,” NBC’s “Meet the Press” and “Fox News Sunday” — Rice said security was “strong” or “significant” at the consulate on the day of the attack, which was incorrect.

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WATCH: Bill Clinton Defends Hillary on Benghazi

Photo Credit: NBC

Photo Credit: NBC

Former President Bill Clinton defended Hillary Clinton’s actions as Secretary of State following the 2012 attack that killed four Americans in Benghazi, saying his wife “did what she should have done.”

“In my opinion, Hillary did what she should have done. She impaneled a very high level review committee,” Clinton said Wednesday at the Peter G. Peterson Foundation 2014 Fiscal Summit.

“They looked into what was wrong, they gave 29 recommendations,” he added. “She took them and started implementing them and they established the fact that, whether it was right or wrong in the past, secretaries of states never were involved directly in theses security decisions.”

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Benghazi Hearings Are a Truth Hunt, Not a Witch Hunt

Photo Credit: REUTERS

Photo Credit: REUTERS

By Charlie Daniels.

In the early days of the inquiry into the Benghazi debacle, it became obvious that the Obama administration was going to stonewall efforts to find out what happened when they tried to feed the American public the lie about the whole thing being caused by some obscure piece of film that insulted Mohammed and was played on television in the Muslim world.

They even stood at the coffins of the four murdered Americans, President Obama and Hillary Clinton still maintaining to the parents of the four men who had given their lives in service to this nation and let them believe that their sons and loved ones had been slaughtered by a random group of Muslim fanatics who just happened to be in the area and decided to kill some Americans.

The lie was soon exposed, but there were others like myself who never believed it to start with. I told my Twitter partners in 2012 that I was going to bring up Benghazi every day until the truth was known and I have, every day since.

People question me as to why I continue to post the Benghazi reminders daily because it’s old news, or they claim that the situation has been adequately explained, all the questions answered and it’s time to move on.

I vehemently disagree with those positions. To me, Benghazi is a symbol of a government that is poorly-led and out-of-control, an example of the indifference of a president who calmly went to bed and flew off to Las Vegas the next morning for a fundraiser.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: NEWSCOM

Photo Credit: NEWSCOM

Who’s Crazy?

By Stephen F. Hayes.

Benghazi, crazy. That’s the association the White House and its allies want to encourage as a House Select Committee begins what should be the most thorough investigation of the Benghazi attacks to date. The White House wants to delegitimize the process before it begins and preemptively discredit the findings. So last week senior White House adviser David Plouffe claimed that “a very loud, delusional minority” is driving the Republicans on Benghazi, and former representative Jane Harman compared questions about Benghazi to conspiracy theories about Vince Foster and aliens.

At first blush, it might seem an odd strategy. A Fox News poll taken in mid-April found that 60 percent of voters want Congress to continue investigating the Benghazi attacks—a total that included 77 percent of Republicans, 61 percent of independents, and 42 percent of Democrats. The same poll found that 61 percent of Americans believe the Obama administration is “trying to cover up” the real Benghazi story—87 percent of Republicans, 66 percent of independents, and 33 percent of Democrats. Just 26 percent think the administration has been “open and transparent.” Notably, this poll was taken before the court-ordered release last month of previously withheld White House emails and talking points, a revelation that provided fresh evidence of White House stonewalling.

But the Obama administration’s strategy isn’t intended for the country at large so much as it is for the Washington press corps. The goal is to convince reporters that by investigating Benghazi they are doing the bidding of crackpots and political hacks. The White House is betting that journalists are more cynical about House Republicans and their motives than they are about the Obama administration’s mendacity on Benghazi. There’s some evidence that’s right.

Most of the reporting after John Boehner’s announcement of a select committee hinted at political motives. The New York Times, in a story that typified the coverage of the latest developments, led this way: “House Republicans on Friday escalated their battle with the White House over the continuing investigations into the 2012 attack that killed four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, ensuring that the issue will not recede in the midst of a fierce partisan fight for control of Congress.”

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Michelle Bachmann Battles Wasserman Schultz Over Benghazi: ‘Democrats Have Tried To Sabotage This Process’ (+video)

Photo Credit: Breitbart

Photo Credit: Breitbart

Minnesota Republican congresswoman Michelle Bachmann sparred with Florida Democratic congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz over the new congressional committee to investigate Benghazi — with Wasserman Schultz claiming Republicans are “clearly doing this to drive their turnout” and Bachmann accusing Democrats of trying “to sabotage this process.”

The two congresswomen appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Candy Crowley to discuss the ongoing investigation into the Obama administration’s response to the September 2012 Benghazi attacks.

Wasserman Schultz was entirely certain that there’s nothing left to investigate. “Republicans are clearly doing this to drive their turnout –”

“Candy, that is not true at all,” Bachmann interjected.

“Excuse me, Michelle, I didn’t interrupt you,” Wasserman Schultz replied. “So I’d appreciate if you didn’t interrupt me.”

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Benghazi Debacle Defies Logic

Photo Credit: Raw Story

Photo Credit: Raw Story

By Ted Nugent.

…No sane soul could keep a straight face when listening to strange-looking bureaucrats raving how we need to spend even more money on education when that very unaccountable system continues to produce the dumbest, fattest kids on planet Earth per dollar spent.

Someone might someday show the real number on Obamacare for a nationwide pukesfest.

We could listen to a gun-running attorney general how more Chicago-like gun-free zones is a good idea, and still lie about Fast and Furious.

But in a genuine effort to not get too angry, let us stick with the horror story that is Benghazi.

Some people are honest enough to know what basic self-defense responsibilities are and what qualifies as basic security versus bureaucratic gobblygook.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Gowdy: Citizens Can Handle the Truth About Benghazi If They Get Access To It

By Katie Pavlich.

Yesterday afternoon House Speaker John Boehner officially announced Rep. Trey Gowdy will lead a new Benghazi select committee. As a former prosecutor, Gowdy is a seasoned investigator who asks tough questions.

Last night, Gowdy made an appearance On the Record to discuss his new role and his plans to get to the bottom of what happened.

Read more from this story HERE.

John Kerry Won’t Testify About Benghazi Because He’ll Be in Mexico, Despite Subpoena

Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

Secretary of State John Kerry is planning to be in Mexico on the day of a congressional hearing on Benghazi for which he was subpoenaed to testify.

The scheduling conflict drew a befuddled response Wednesday from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which has ordered him to appear.

“There appears to be some confusion between State Department staff and the Secretary, who said publicly yesterday that he would comply with the subpoena for his testimony,” committee spokesman Frederick Hill said. “The State Department has not contacted the Committee directly.”

The State Department announced Wednesday morning that Kerry is scheduled to be in Mexico City May 21-22, for talks on trade, education and security.

May 21 is when the House oversight committee wants Kerry to testify, to discuss newly uncovered documents regarding the administration’s public explanation of the attacks.

Read more from this story HERE.