CNN Email leak - "White House knew of extremist claims hours after attack"

[DHelix]

Last edited Wed Oct 24, 2012, 10:57 AM - Edit history (1)

I'm beginning to think that this is the Donald Trump story and also why Romney completely avoided the Bengazi story during the debate. He didn't want to give Obama the stage to explain away any of this. Now, it's possible that CNN in conjuction with Trump will turn this email into a full blown story that can be talked about for days on end.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/24/us/libya-benghazi-e-mails/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

And meanwhile... due to the snoopy, TMZ generation... people also have thoughts of Obama selling coke/divorce on their minds. This Gloria Allred thing on Romney better be juicy.

EDIT: I only reported this because I noticed CNN was promoting this as front page news and made it sound like a turning point. I read the front page shortly after hearing that Trump had denied that the divorce/coke rumors were what he was going to be sharing and thought that he might be leaking this as well.

[BeyondGeography]

1. Trump: Obama received those e-mails while doing coke and having an extramarital affair

[sharkman25]

15. I think you forgot the sarcasm tag...LOL

[sharp_stick]

28. The affair was with David Axelrod

don't forget those old Jerome Corsi stories about Obama actually being a secret homosexual.

[BeyondGeography]

31. A Muslim would be better, but Axelrod will do

[ProSense]

2. Here,

have a dose of facts:

Fox's Van Susteren Misrepresents State Dept. Emails To Rehash Tired Libya Talking Points
http://mediamatters.org/research/2012/10/24/foxs-van-susteren-misrepresents-state-dept-emai/190888

The media is grasping at straws in Operation Rescue Mitt.

He has been humiliated and destroyed on this issue, and they can't have that.

Give it up.

[Justkd1]

3. Ok, maybe I am completely ignorant!

But WTF is the big deal about the semantics? It was still an attack, correct? Aren't there people on the ground attempting to get answers? Where exactly is the scandal?

Am I completely missing something?!

[stuckinodi]

4. I Don't Understand

Obama said it was a terrorist attack right away. Why is this such a big deal?

[DHelix]

10. I see where you're going with this...

I don't see why the two things can't go hand-in-hand either. Why couldn't/didn't the terrorist group react to the video? Maybe the Admin's reasoning for talking about the video so much was so that it wouldn't spread further?

It does feel like a huge game of semantics at this point, doesn't it? I assume that Romney didn't want the President to be able to address this properly on the air and that's why he avoided it. In some ways I wish now that the President had used the stage to explain how both things were inter-related more. With 60 million people watching it might have helped get the message about better.

Still, very frustrating that CNN is trying to pass this email off like it's huge breaking news because I figure that if I felt this was a new development... people like my parents and others across the country must have to.

[RKP5637]

11. They are trying to plant the notion of incompetency in peoples' minds. It's psychological

warfare. Right or wrong, they plant the seeds of incompetency in peoples' minds and it will grow from there. It's the same tactic lawyers often use. Problem is, some people will take this and run with it calling the WH incompetent, and we have enough fools in this country that will believe it and vote for Romney. And MSM will have a field day with it so they can make lots of $$$$$. It's some system we have here in the US.

[shraby]

5. Isn't the White House the first to know of any developments and also the first

to know of things as they happen? If not, then all the money put into investigating is for naught.
The White House finds out, weighs what they have then lets the public know what they know..to some extent. They don't dare spill all the beans because there may be ongoing action in the field.

As far as I can see, this is a non-story.

[GeorgeGist]

6. C-L-A-I-M-S ON FACEBOOK.

Well that settle it.

[DHelix]

7. See, I'm informed and this STILL felt like news. What is CNN doing pushing this?

They're making it look like this was just released info and the average everyday person is going to take it as fact, especially since it's all coming out now after the final debate.

This is frustrating.

[Caretha]

36. A better question

would be - why are you pushing this meme?

Oh wait! I think I know.

[pointsoflight]

8. Geez, the possible link to Ansar al Sharia was reported the very next day

"U.S. government officials said the Benghazi attack may have been planned in advance and there were indications that members of a militant faction calling itself Ansar al Sharia - which translates as Supporters of Islamic Law - may have been involved.

They also said some reporting from the region suggested that members of Al-Qaeda's north Africa-based affiliate, known as Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, may have been involved."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/12/us-libya-usa-attack-idUSBRE88B0EI20120912

Seriously, WTF. Not new.

[Enrique]

9. the Libya story is not a bombshell

it is a development. There will be more of these, which is a good thing. Some of the developments will be "good" from Obama's perspective, some will be "bad".

Anyway, whatever Trump is known for it is not his intelligence sources so this probably has nothing to do with him.

[ProSense]

13. It's not a "development" it's spin on old news. n/t

[Enrique]

19. what do you think, ProSense

what is your objective opinion on Behghazi? (not a real question)

[ProSense]

23. I gave my opinion: It's not a development, it's spin.

Fox's Van Susteren Misrepresents State Dept. Emails To Rehash Tired Libya Talking Points
http://mediamatters.org/research/2012/10/24/foxs-van-susteren-misrepresents-state-dept-emai/190888

Desperate, blatant spin.

[Enrique]

30. of course Fox is going to spin it

everything CNN reports on, Fox is going to spin. Does that mean CNN should stop reporting on Benghazi? My answer is no. Your answer is yes, I feel comfortable speaking for you. You do think reporters should not report news that could put Obama in a bad light.

By the way, I don't think this development puts Obama in a bad light. I actually don't think it adds much at all to the story, unless I missed the significance of it.

[ProSense]

37. Nonsense.

"of course Fox is going to spin it everything CNN reports on, Fox is going to spin. Does that mean CNN should stop reporting on Benghazi? My answer is no. Your answer is yes, I feel comfortable speaking for you. You do think reporters should not report news that could put Obama in a bad light."

You're making up your own feel-good red herring after characterizing this bogus story as a "development." It's absolute garbage.

And don't put words into my mouth to distract from your position. I said nothing about not reporting on Benghazi.

I'm not an idiot, and I also know this story is bullshit. Do you?

[think_critically]

12. Liberal Media Bias. Complete Bull Shit

The media is so full of shit. This email is about a facebook post and some tweets. I guess the Obama should ahve
announced that we received some facebook messages and watched some twitter feeds to determine that a terrorist group
attacked the compound. Get real. They are fanning this stuff b/c they want Romney to win. I'm convinced of it now. Just look at abc's
headline.

[ronnie624]

14. And?

[LisaL]

16. I don't get it either.

We already established Obama called it an act of terror.
So what else would they have wanted him to do?

[ronnie624]

41. Definitely an important point.

It seems odd however, that anyone would expect the Administration to call it anything, until an investigation had established all the pertinent facts. I'm completely missing how labeling the attack as 'act of terror' or not, reflects poorly on the Administration either way. The wingnuts are hoping for a 'gotcha' moment that falls apart upon scrutiny.

[karynnj]

17. Nothing here - there are ALWAYS multiple claims after an attack

The President and his people followed the CIA's talking points. There were no US sources closer to what happened than the CIA. The State department appears not to have had any better information.

The fact is that Libya is a very chaotic place- and Benghazi even more so. There is nothing to suggest that there was any deliberate attempt by the WH to cover this up. In fact, there was NO way it could have been covered up.

Someone posted a list of about 10 attacks, where people though not an ambassador were killed during the Bush years. That indicates that being a diplomat in part of the world is inherently dangerous.

Neither this, the Alfred thing or cocaine or divorce are important - other than they make the real issue - that Romney's economic plan is a fraud where the arithmetic does not add up and that he is lying on his position on the auto bailout are not covered.

Romney is out saying Obama has no plan - this takes real chutzpah when Romney has no foreign policy plans he is willing to stand behind and he is not telling us what he and Ryan want to do on domestic policy. We need to fight back on this - not any shiny objects.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

46. Exactly

As I recall, several groups initially claimed responsibility for the WTC/Pentagon attacks on 9/11/01. Where they all responsible????

[DHelix]

18. My question is why is CNN reporting this today as front page news as though it's hot?

The media is the message so by pushing this to the front page it makes it appear as though this is a turning point in what the Admin knew to some who hadn't been following as closely. That's my concern.

[lalalu]

25. CNN also reported

Arabs were possibly behind the Oklahoma bombing. They also went along with the WMDs fable. It is why I no longer watch them.

[lalalu]

20. There were numerous claims after the Oklahoma bombing.

Cheney was one of the people claiming it was Arabs. I remember that well.

It happens every time there is an attack and it takes time to verify who is really responsible. Sometimes the correct answer is not the initial reaction.

[malaise]

21. As we say in these parts

Loud stewwwps!

Troll away!

[Barack_America]

22. Nice try. Isn't that site back up yet?

[Ellipsis]

27. *grin* we like "teh" subtle. n/t

[justiceischeap]

24. It's all about claiming there was a cover-up

The right is trying to paint this as a grand conspiracy. They'll now be able to "claim" Pres. Obama lied. That's all this is.

[LisaL]

34. Obama called it an act of terror.

So how would they be able to claim that?

[justiceischeap]

42. Don't know, their logic doesn't make sense. I mean, does it ever?

But all over the Twitterverse from the GOP, it's cover-up this, and cover-up that. And the media really isn't working hard to dissuade them of that notion.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

45. Only in the mind of a right-winger

would exist a rational reason for the Obama Administration to cover something up about this. I mean, why? What would be the motivation???

[justiceischeap]

47. There you go trying to apply logic again.

They have been looking for some whiff of scandal and the "news" agencies are helping make this into something it isn't. I think it started because they wanted a horse race so they fanned the flames a bit. Now, it's almost as though CNN & others creating much ado about nothing, need to do so to cover their asses for fanning the flames initially.

[grammiepammie]

26. libya-benghazi

This is absolutely insane. Everyone knows that after any type of an attack, different groups will claim responsibility. So, our new strategy will be to receive an e-mail and NOT INVESTIGATE and take the e-mail as the truth. SHAME ON CNN.

[fulllib]

29. Obama stated it wasn't just a protest

On 60 minutes the next day, he's quoted "You're right that this is not a situation that was -- exactly the same as what happened in Egypt and my suspicion is that there are folks involved in this who were looking to target Americans from the start," Mr. Obama said.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57538689/emails-detail-unfolding-benghazi-attack-on-sept-11/


And on Letterman, five days later, he used the coveted phrase "terrorist attack," in case anyone acts like that is important.

[OldDem2012]

32. Bull-freakin'-crap. Trashing this thread. nt.

[yardwork]

33. I'm terribly. terribly concerned.

[spanone]

35. cnn has become an unreliable source

[Blueprogress]

38. Where is the story?

There is video with Obama calling the incident an act of terror sept 12. So where is the story?
So, a tragic incident happens and a person or group takes credit, the mainstream media wanted the President to just go with initial Email report, no investigation etc. and say this person/group is responsible. I trust a rational, well thinking Pres. who seek out facts and go with the facts he has presented by our trusted intelligent forces. Instead of someone who could not even wait a minute to score political points on the issue.
Even Susan Rice on Sept 16 said they believed that extremist used the outrage from the video to wage this attack. There was never any doubt that extremist were involved, the only issue was the role the anti Islamic video played in the attack. This is made up bs, playing to people who do not seek out information for themselves.
http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/10/15/1014241/timline-benghazi-attack/?mobile=wp

[libtodeath]

39. This has been a desperate

and phony "story" from the beginning.
Why spread RW filth about it?

[LisaL]

40. It has been.

There is no "gotcha" in that story. Obama called it an act of terror.
What else do they want him to do?

[EC]

43. So? ... n/t

[Blue Idaho]

44. Please enjoy your stay with us...

But I have to ask - how many more threads do you plan on starting about this right wing talking point?