GOP Benghazi Report: Clinton Had Intel to See Risk

A Republican report on the 2012 attack in Benghazi finds Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration should have realized an attack was possible before it took place. The report from the House Benghazi Committee notes the administration failed to recognize the risks of rising crime levels and gun ownership. "It is not clear what additional intelligence would have satisfied either [aide Patrick Kennedy] or the Secretary in understanding the Benghazi mission compound was at risk—short of an attack," the report says, per CNN, adding that requests for additional security were met with silence or a resounding "no" from senior officials—though not Clinton directly. However, a separate analysis from the panel's conservative members blames a "tragic failure of leadership," per CNN.

The panel says it was "shameful" of Clinton to turn her emails over to the State Department, which decided what to release, rather than to the committee itself, per Politico. It adds that State and Defense officials "consistently refused to answer questions" relating to reports that President Obama approved an operation to arm the Libyan opposition ahead of the attack, reports Politico. In their own report on Monday, Democrats say the report is "a conspiracy theory on steroids bringing back long-debunked allegations with no credible evidence whatsoever" in an attempt to hurt Clinton's presidential bid, per the AP. The State Department adds the "essential facts ... have been known for some time," thanks to numerous investigations. "We have made great progress towards making our posts safer since 2012." (More Benghazi stories.)