Sen. Roy Blunt on Sunday said the Obama administration mislead the public on the terrorist attack in Libya that killed four Americans in order to improve President Obama’s chances during the election.
“Until you hear a better explanation, that’s the only conclusion you can reach,” Blunt, R-Mo. and a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on CNN’s State of the Union.
In the days after the Sept. 11 attack, Obama administration officials, including U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, a top potential replacement for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said the violence was spontaneous, sparked by anger over a YouTube video that was offensive to Muslims.
Blunt, who heard testimony from ex-CIA Director David Petraeus this week, said it was clearly a planned attack.
“It is clear from the surveillance film that there was never a protest,” Blunt said. “It was also clear that there had to be some planning.”
Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said the intelligence “evolved” in the weeks after the attack, but there was “no question” that the impression given to the American people was that it was related to a protest and not a terrorist attack.
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