September 08, 2014 01:18 PM UTC

Sen. Ted Harvey Goes Bonkers Over Benghazi

• 10 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

​The New York Times reported Friday about a new book forthcoming about the September 2012 attack on the American diplomatic consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The book 13 Hours, co-written by CIA contractors involved in the response to the attack on the Benghazi consulate that resulted in the death of the American ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and several other Americans, sheds some new light on the events of that day:

The book, titled “13 Hours,” is the first public account of the night’s events by any of the American security personnel involved in the attack. The accusation that the base chief, referred to in the book only as “Bob,” held back the rescue opens a new front in a fierce political battle over who is at fault for the American deaths.

Republicans have blamed President Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, then the secretary of state, for the security failure.

American officials have previously acknowledged that the Central Intelligence Agency security team paused to try to enlist support from Libyan militia allies. But the book is the first detailed account of the extent of the delay, its consequences for the rescue attempt, and who made the decisions.

The commandos’ account — which fits with the publicly known facts and chronology — suggests that the base chief issued the “stand down” orders on his own authority. [Pols emphasis] He hoped to enlist local Libyan militiamen, and the commandos speculate that he hoped the Libyans could carry out the rescue alone to avoid exposing the C.I.A. base.

​In the aftermath of the Benghazi attack, Republicans have strained credibility to make a connection between high-level Obama administration officials and the decisions made on the ground that may have contributed to the deaths of Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans. This latest version of events from the CIA contractors who responded has reinvigorated those questions from Republicans, despite the fact that they at least partly exonerate the administration–it wasn't then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or anyone in Washington who ordered those operatives to "stand down," it was the CIA's station chief in Benghazi acting on his own authority.

Which beings us to Colorado Sen. Ted Harvey, who runs the national Stop Hillary PAC–and has been beating the Benghazi drum as loudly as anyone. Don't pester Harvey with any of your silly details:

This is an emergency. We just learned the damning truth about Benghazi — the loss of 4 American lives was COMPLETELY AVOIDABLE. 

The key U.S. security team in Benghazi was FORBIDDEN from immediately responding to the attack on the American diplomatic mission. 

That's right…their inside account of what happened the night of the September 11, 2012, Benghazi attack is proof that Hillary Clinton had the means to save her diplomatic team…

Hillary Clinton is guilty of more than just lying. Crippling indecision, or worse, willful inaction were Hillary's death sentence for those 4 Americans who died September 11, 2012. [Pols emphasis]

And that, dear reader, is how the deed gets done. The facts that undermine Harvey's insistence that Clinton has blood on her hands? Forget those facts. Harvey never bothers to mention that it was the CIA station chief in Benghazi who the contractors say "forbade" them from going in. And it doesn't matter than a bipartisan House investigation determined there was no intentional wrongdoing by anyone in the administration.

Of all the attacks that have been leveled against the Clintons in their many years in politics, the Benghazi attack probably isn't the worst. But the disregard for the facts in this case, even after they are refuted by credible investigations, is a good lesson in how for many in politics today, facts just don't matter.

Colorado Sen. Ted Harvey fits that description perfectly.