LIE: Ted Cruz: “Theirs is the party […] that responds to the death of Americans at Benghazi by asking, ‘What difference does it make?’”
THE TRUTH
FactCheck.org: “Clinton didn’t say that the deaths didn’t make a difference… Republicans… have portrayed the remarks as being uncaring toward the lives lost that night… But Clinton’s full remarks indicate she was concerned about the lives lost.”
Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson led his speech with an oft-used quote from Hillary Clinton on the Sept. 11, 2012, Benghazi attacks, but he left out the full context. […] Former U.S. Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey was more egregious in misrepresenting Clinton’s quote, saying: ‘So I guess about her emails we’re soon gonna hear the same infamous question that we heard about the death of four Americans in Benghazi, what difference at this point does it make?’ Clinton didn’t say that the deaths didn’t make a difference. […] Republicans, like Mukasey, have portrayed the remarks as being uncaring toward the lives lost that night. Johnson himself went on to describe in his speech several victims of terrorists attacks, saying ‘it made a difference’ to them. But Clinton’s full remarks indicate she was concerned about the lives lost.
LIE: Newt Gingrich: “We know that Hillary Clinton lied to us knowingly about the terror attack on our Benghazi consulate on September 11, 2012.”
THE TRUTH
Focusing just on the public statements made by Clinton — as opposed to the rest of the administration — one find little support for Rubio’s claim that Clinton told the American people that the attacks were because of a video. She certainly spoke about the video, but always in the context of the protests that were occurring across the Middle East.
LIE: Mike Pence: “And it was Hillary Clinton who left Americans in harm’s way in Benghazi and after four Americans fell, said ‘what difference, at this point, does it make’?”
THE TRUTH
FactCheck.org: “Clinton didn’t say that the deaths didn’t make a difference… Republicans… have portrayed the remarks as being uncaring toward the lives lost that night… But Clinton’s full remarks indicate she was concerned about the lives lost.”
Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson led his speech with an oft-used quote from Hillary Clinton on the Sept. 11, 2012, Benghazi attacks, but he left out the full context. […] Former U.S. Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey was more egregious in misrepresenting Clinton’s quote, saying: ‘So I guess about her emails we’re soon gonna hear the same infamous question that we heard about the death of four Americans in Benghazi, what difference at this point does it make?’ Clinton didn’t say that the deaths didn’t make a difference. […] Republicans, like Mukasey, have portrayed the remarks as being uncaring toward the lives lost that night. Johnson himself went on to describe in his speech several victims of terrorists attacks, saying ‘it made a difference’ to them. But Clinton’s full remarks indicate she was concerned about the lives lost.
LIE: Donald Trump Jr.: “She says she’ll issue executive orders to take away Americans’ guns.” “Hillary Clinton is a risk Americans can’t afford to take. She says she’ll issue executive orders to take away Americans’ guns, she wants to appoint judges who will abolish the Second Amendment.”
FactCheck.org: “Donald Trump distorts the facts when he says ‘Hillary Clinton wants to take your guns away.'” “Donald Trump distorts the facts when he says ‘Hillary Clinton wants to take your guns away’ and ‘abolish the Second Amendment.’ Clinton’s gun violence prevention proposal would impose restrictions, including a ban on semi-automatic ‘assault weapons,’ but it does not call for banning all guns.” [FactCheck.org, 5/10/16]
LIE: Donald Trump Jr. on Benghazi tragedy: “Secretary Clinton’s State Department had ignored their requests for help, both on the night in question and in the weeks and months leading up to the attack.”
PolitiFact: Several investigations have found “that no action by Clinton — or anybody in the administration — could have moved additional forces to Benghazi before the last American deaths.” “Several investigations have found, however, that no action by Clinton — or anybody in the administration — could have moved additional forces to Benghazi before the last American deaths. And if it were possible, Clinton was not responsible for sending help. That fell to military officials.” [PolitiFact, 7/14/16]
Even Trey Gowdy admitted that there was no question military assets could not have reached Benghazi in time to prevent the deaths of four Americans. “It’s a question congressional investigators have long been seeking to answer: Could the military have reached the besieged diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, in time to prevent the killings of four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, the night of Sept. 11, 2012? The chairman of the House Benghazi committee — echoing comments by his top lawyer — now says no. ‘Whether or not they could have gotten there in time, I don’t think there is any issue with respect to that. They couldn’t,’ Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., told Fox News this week.” [AP, 5/18/16]
Several physical upgrades and repairs were implemented at the Benghazi compound throughout the course of 2012. “It is incumbent upon the Board, however, to acknowledge that several upgrades and repairs took place over 2012. DS provided additional funding for the Local Guard Force (LGF),February 17, and residential security upgrades, including heightening the outer perimeter wall, safety grills on safe area egress windows that helped save the life of ARSO 1 on the night of September 11, concrete jersey barriers, manual drop-arm vehicle barriers, a steel gate for the Villa C safe area, some locally manufactured steel doors, sandbag fortifications, security cameras, some additional security lighting, guard booths, and an Internal Defense Notification System.” [Accountability Review Board report, 12/18/12]
PolitiFact gave Donald Trump’s claim that the Benghazi victims were “left helpless to die as Hillary Clinton soundly slept in her bed” a rating of “False.” “Trump said the Benghazi victims were ‘left helpless to die as Hillary Clinton soundly slept in her bed.’ Clinton was not literally sleeping when the Benghazi attacks unfolded, as it was mid afternoon on a Tuesday in Washington. She worked late into the night, as is evidenced by an 11 p.m. email. If we take Trump’s claim more broadly, that Clinton was inattentive throughout the hours in which the attacks occurred, none of the many congressional investigations into Benghazi have made that assertion. We rate Trump’s claim False.” [PolitiFact, 6/23/16]
LIE: Donald Trump Jr.: “[We are going to elect] A president who will repeal and replace Obamacare without leaving our most vulnerable citizens without health care and who will do it without destroying Medicare for seniors as Hillary Clinton has proposed.”
Hillary Clinton is committed to preserving, protecting, and strengthening Medicare. “Throughout her career, Hillary has stood up for Medicare and Social Security. She is committed to preserving, protecting, and strengthening these lifelines for today’s seniors and for future generations. […] Fight back against Republican plans to privatize or ‘phase out’ Medicare as we know it. Republicans have called for privatizing or even ‘phasing out’ Medicare and shifting millions more seniors into private plans that would dramatically raise costs. Hillary will stand against these attempts to weaken the program.” [Hillary for America, Issues: Health care, (accessed, 7/19/16)]
Hillary Clinton wants to expand Medicare by allowing people below the Medicare age to opt into the program. “Hillary Clinton on Saturday announced her plan to expand investments in community health care centers, the second of two proposals in a week apparently aimed at courting supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders ahead of his possible endorsement. The presumptive Democratic nominee’s proposal would double funding for primary care services at Federally Qualified Health Centers, which serve populations with limited access to health care. Community health care centers have been a key priority for Sanders, I-Vt., who successfully fought for the inclusion of $11 billion in funding for such centers in the Affordable Care Act of 2010. Clinton also affirmed her commitment to giving Americans in every state the choice of a ‘public-option’ insurance plan — which she supported during her 2008 presidential campaign and Sanders pushed for during the ACA debate — and allowing people below Medicare age to opt into the program by offering it to those who are 55 and older.” [USA Today, 7/10/16]
]]>THE LIE: Ron Johnson: “But instead of doing that, she hatched her cover-up story and repeatedly lied to the American people.”
THE TRUTH: Washington Post Fact Checker found “little support” for the claim that “Clinton told the American people the attacks were because of a video.” “Focusing just on the public statements made by Clinton — as opposed to the rest of the administration — one find little support for Rubio’s claim that Clinton told the American people that the attacks were because of a video. She certainly spoke about the video, but always in the context of the protests that were occurring across the Middle East.” [Washington Post, 10/30/15]
Washington Post Fact Checker: In Clinton’s public statements “she was very careful to keep the attacks separate from the video.” “Looking at Clinton’s public statements, it is clear she was very careful to keep the attacks separate from the video; the two incidents do not appear in the same sentence (unlike the controversial televised remarks by then-U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice).” [Washington Post, 10/30/15]
]]>The one difference between McCarthy and Trump? Sometimes Kevin McCarty slips up and actually tells the truth, like when he admitted that the House Select Committee on Benghazi was actually a taxpayer-funded rouse to bring down Secretary Clinton’s poll numbers. Oops.
McCarthy: “Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today?” “I knew you’d want to ask it. What you’re going to see is a conservative speaker that takes a conservative Congress that puts a strategy (in place) to fight and win. “And let me give you one example. Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping. Why? Because she’s un-trustable. But no one would have known any of that had happened had we not fought and made that happen.” [Fox News, 9/29/15]
Kevin McCarthy: “I did not imply in any way that the work [of the Benghazi Committee] is political, of course it is not.” “The battle over likely House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s open boasting about the Benghazi probe’s success in driving down Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers is only intensifying. And McCarthy went on Fox News again last night to try to clean up the mess: ‘This committee was set up for one sole purpose, to find the truth on behalf of families for four dead Americans,’ McCarthy told Bret Baier. ‘Now, I did not imply in any way that that work is political, of course it is not. Look at the way they have carried themselves out.’ He added: ‘That committee is solely to get the truth out, but it happened within the truth you found out about a server,’ a reference to the private email server Clinton has admitted she maintained while secretary of state.” [Washington Post, 10/2/15]
2013: Kevin McCarthy on Federal revenue: “There’s more money going in than any other time.” MCCARTHY: There is no need for a tax increase out of this House. There’s more money going in than any other time. In the last four decades, on average, we brought in 17.9 percent of GDP. Now we’re going to bring in 19.1. The problem is we’re spending more!” [Fox News, 2/20/13]
Politifact: “To say that the nation will collect the most revenue in raw dollars in 2013, according to tax experts, is meaningless. We rate McCarthy’s statement Mostly False.” “McCarthy told Fox News, ‘There’s more money going in than any other time. In the last four decades, on average, we brought in 17.9 percent of GDP. Now we’re going to bring in 19.1.’ Starting in 2015, reputable projections show revenue rising to 19.1 percent of GDP, up from an average of 17.9 over the last four decades. But McCarthy’s wrong to say that there’s more money coming in than at any other time. In fact, the nation collected more than 19.1 percent of GDP in seven years of the last 40. To say that the nation will collect the most revenue in raw dollars in 2013, according to tax experts, is meaningless. We rate McCarthy’s statement Mostly False.” [Politifact, 2/28/13]
Kevin McCarthy claimed: “The Democratic majority led the 111th Congress to spend more money in two years than the first 100 congresses before them combined.” “I was not present for the votes because my son had surgery last week, and I came home to be with him and my family,’ said McCarthy, who will be the House Majority Whip in the new Congress. ‘If I had been in D.C., I would have voted against all of the bills mentioned in your reader’s letter. While there were a number of positive things in each of the bills, the tipping point was the spending. The Democratic majority led the 111th Congress to spend more money in two years than the first 100 congresses before them combined. Washington has lost touch and spent too much time focusing on the wrong issues. Americans need jobs, not more debt, and next year the new majority will be focused on just that.” [Bakersfield Californian, 1/5/11]
Politifact: McCarthy confused “annual spending for accumulated debt. And that’s enough to rule McCarthy’s statement False.” “So what about McCarthy’s statement? It’s similar to Cantor’s comment to Jon Stewart, but it’s not exactly the same. Whereas Cantor used as his comparison point ‘the last 200 years,’ McCarthy used ‘the first 100 congresses.’ Although his phrasing could be read to mean the 100 congresses prior to the 111th Congress, we’re giving him the benefit of the doubt that he meant the first 100 congresses in history. That means counting only from the 1st Congress to the 100th Congress — a period that ended 22 years ago, in January 1989. But he’s wrong by either measure. […] Ultimately, McCarthy’s statement in the Californian was slightly less wrong than Cantor’s statememt to Jon Stewart, since the ‘first 100 congresses’ formulation is ultimately more supportable than ‘the last 200 years combined.’ Still, McCarthy made the same error that Cantor, his fellow Young Gun, did a couple months earlier — confusing annual spending for accumulated debt. And that’s enough to rule McCarthy’s statement False.” [Politifact, 1/5/11]
]]>LIE 1: Rudy Giuliani: “Clinton and the Obama administration for political reasons lied about the purpose of the attack.”
LIE 2: “Hillary Clinton lied directly to the families of the people who were killed right to their face.”
THE TRUTH:
Washington Post Fact Checker found “little support” for the claim that “Clinton told the American people the attacks were because of a video.” “Focusing just on the public statements made by Clinton — as opposed to the rest of the administration — one find little support for Rubio’s claim that Clinton told the American people that the attacks were because of a video. She certainly spoke about the video, but always in the context of the protests that were occurring across the Middle East.” [Washington Post, 10/30/15]
Washington Post Fact Checker: Most of the victims’ families say “they do not recall [Hillary Clinton] mentioning a video” in their private conversations. “The Fact Checker took a deep dive into the question of what exactly Clinton had told families of the victims of the Benghazi attacks. We reviewed as many transcripts of interviews as we could find and tracked down as many family members as possible. Clinton says that in speaking with the families, she did not blame the Benghazi attacks on the video. Most participants we interviewed (four out of six) back up her version, saying they do not recall her mentioning a video. We did not offer a rating. Readers will have to come to their own conclusions based on the evidence we assembled.” [Washington Post, 10/21/16]
The majority of families the Washington Post Fact Checker interviewed said Hillary Clinton did not discuss the video during their private meetings. “Clinton says that in speaking with the families, she did not blame the Benghazi attacks on the video. Most participants we interviewed (four out of six) back up her version, saying they do not recall her mentioning a video.” [Washington Post Fact Checker, 1/4/16]
]]>LIE: Rep. Michael McCaul: “When four Americans were murdered and Benghazi burned, burned, she blamed it on a video.”
THE TRUTH: Washington Post Fact Checker found “little support” for the claim that “Clinton told the American people the attacks were because of a video.” “Focusing just on the public statements made by Clinton — as opposed to the rest of the administration — one find little support for Rubio’s claim that Clinton told the American people that the attacks were because of a video. She certainly spoke about the video, but always in the context of the protests that were occurring across the Middle East.” [Washington Post, 10/30/15]
]]>LIE: “Hillary Clinton failed to protect her people on the ground. Had she done her job that night, we would not have had to compromise the annex.”
THE TRUTH: Mark Geist on Hillary Clinton’s accountability for Benghazi: “Do I hold her accountable? No. You know who I hold accountable is al-Sharia.” “But while many of Clinton’s enemies use Benghazi to hold her accountable, Geist has his own perspective. ‘Do I hold her accountable? No. You know who I hold accountable is al-Sharia,’ he said. ‘That’s who attacked them. That’s who killed the ambassador.’” [ABC News, 1/16/16]
PolitiFact: “There’s no evidence that these [security requests] reached Clinton directly, let alone that she personally denied the requests.” “‘Ambassador (Chris) Stevens and his staff in Libya made hundreds and hundreds of requests for security. …Hillary Clinton’s State Department refused them all.’ While it’s true that the State Department was repeatedly asked to provide additional security, there’s no evidence that these reached Clinton directly, let alone that she personally denied the requests.” [PolitiFact, 6/22/16]
]]>LIE: “We got told to stand down.” “September 11, 2012 at about 9:35, 9:40 we got a call that the U.S. consulate had been overrun. We immediately got our gear ready to go, got the vehicles ready. And on three separate occasions we got told to wait by the Chief of Base Bob. And we got told to stand down.”
THE TRUTH: CIA stated that no “stand down” order was given. “In a statement to ABC News, the CIA called the claims in the movie ‘shameful,’ ‘a distortion of events’ and denied that a ‘stand down’ order was given. ‘No one will mistake this movie for a documentary,’ the statement continued. ‘It’s a distortion of the events and people who served in Benghazi that night. It’s shameful that, in order to highlight the heroism of some, those responsible for the movie felt the need to denigrate the courage of other Americans who served in harm’s way.’” [ABC News, 1/16/16]
Republican-led House Intelligence committee that interviewed members of the response team determined that there was no stand-down order given. “‘There are seven reports based off of what happened in Benghazi; I’ve been interviewed for one,’ he said. ‘What kind of credibility is that? How can you get the information without interviewing the guys on the ground?’ That ‘one’ was former House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers’ probe. But even his final report on the matter specifically said there was no stand-down order given. That report divided the GOP. And most of Rogers’ GOP panel members — including Benghazi panel member Pompeo — refused to sign the final document because they felt it did not tell the full story.” [Politico, 1/14/16]
Senate Intelligence Committee found “no evidence of intentional delay or obstruction” of movement by the team from the CIA annex. “The bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, the most credible official investigation into Benghazi, investigated precisely this issue. It found that, ‘Although some members of the security team expressed frustration that they were unable to respond more quickly to the Mission compound,’ there was ‘no evidence of intentional delay or obstruction by the Chief of Base or any other party.’” [Vox, 1/15/16]
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