Free Republic

Charles Krauthammer is calling a newly released email “a smoking document” that the conservative columnist says shows the White House was involved in a coverup of the Benghazi attacks. GOP lawmakers on Tuesday seized on the documents, which contained an email from deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes discussing “goals” for then-U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice’s appearances on the Sunday shows following the attack. Appearing on Fox News on Tuesday evening, Krauthammer said the email shows that the Obama administration fabricated its contention that the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, were a reaction to a YouTube video because the revelation of...

The father of one of the Navy SEALs killed in Benghazi will be the guest of a Republican congressman at Tuesday’s State of the Union. Calling the guest a “genuine victim of failed foreign policy,” Oklahoma Republican Rep. Jim Bridenstine will be hosting Charles Woods, the father of Navy SEAL Ty Woods who was killed during the September 11 attacks in Benghazi. “As a combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, I understand the importance of knowing that America leaves no one behind,” Bridenstine said announcing his guest. “I am honored to host the father of a true hero.” His office...

When can President Barack Obama use military force against Libyans without prior authorization from Congress and when can he not? In response to a question from Rep. Michael Conaway (R.-Texas), Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a closed session of a House Armed Services subcommittee in October that the military cannot kill the terrorists who attacked the State Department and CIA compounds in Benghazi, Libya, because Congress has not authorized the use of force against those terrorists. "Therefore, they will have to be captured," Dempsey said in a transcript of the testimony released this week....

A newly-released Senate Intelligence Committee report, which found that the September 2012 attack at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi could have been prevented, has given Republicans newfound ammunition as they seek to undermine Hillary Clinton and thwart her potential presidential candidacy in 2016. Republicans, after all, have continually tried to blame the then-secretary of state for the tragedy, which left four Americans dead, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. Conservative lawmakers frequently pointed to cables from Stevens and his staff requesting more security and accused the Obama administration of deceiving the country by initially suggesting the attack was something other than terrorism....

Col. George Bristol was in charge of Special Operations Forces in Northern Africa on the night of the Benghazi, Libya terror attack The Dept. of Defense had refused to tell Congress where to find him, claiming that he was retired and entitled to protection under privacy laws After pressure from Sen. Lindsey Graham, the Pentagon has changed its mind - now acknowledging that Bristol is not yet retired Questions remain about why commandos were not sent to Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012, even though a team was standing by to board a plane The U.S. Department of Defense has agreed...

Columnist Charles Krauthammer on the “O’Reilly Factor” Tuesday night said the “biggest scandal of all” regarding the Benghazi attacks on Sept. 11, 2012, has yet to emerge. “I think there is a bigger story here, here’s the one that will in time come out,” Krauthammer said. ”The biggest scandal of all, the biggest question is: What was the president doing in those eight hours?” “He had a routine meeting at five o’clock. He never after, during the eight hours when our guys have their lives in danger, he never called the Secretary of Defense, he never calls the Chairman of...

On “Fox News Sunday” last weekend, White House aide Dan Pfeiffer was asked about President Barack Obama’s whereabouts the night of the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi. This was the night when we lost our first ambassador in 30 years, and when three other Americans were killed in an attack that lasted all night long at multiple locations within the eastern Libyan city. Since the president is commander in chief, one would think where he was and what he did during such an event would be of obvious public concern. Not according to Pfeiffer. He deemed the president’s location, and...

For the third night in a row, Jon Stewart was unrelenting in going after the Obama administration for the multiple scandals it’s been caught up in. Stewart admitted that after piling on Fox News for so long for overreacting to every little thing Obama does, they finally have something to be justifiably angry about, and could not begrudge them their moment of outrage. Stewart even agreed that President Obama could have acted like Richard Nixon, but if he wasn’t directly involved, it’s still bad because that makes him Mr. Magoo. Stewart recapped the “shitstorm that is rocking the Obama administration”...

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that he believes President Barack Obama owes the American public explanations for both the seizure of Associated Press phone records by the Department of Justice and the IRS targeting of conservative groups. “I don’t think anyone truly believes that the president has given us a sufficient answer for America, much less the press,” Rangel said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “I think this is just the beginning and the whole idea of comparing this with Nixon, I really think is just, it doesn’t make much sense. But the president has to come forward and share...

onventional wisdom has long held that Hillary Rodham Clinton, if she runs for president, would be the clear frontrunner for the Democratic nomination in 2016. But after a trifecta of scandals buffeting President Obama – fresh questions about the White House’s veracity on Benghazi, the IRS’s harassment of conservative non-profits and the Justice Department seizure ofAP telephone records – Clinton's close connections with Obama could become politically problematic. Some Republicans believe that revelations about the Benghazi operation could lead to unflattering details that cast questions about Clinton’s stewardship at the State Department. If there was any attempt to downplay the...

Ineffective management at the Internal Revenue Service led to certain groups being singled out for more than 18 months based on their names or mission statements, according to an Inspector General report obtained by ABC News. IRS officials told IG investigators that their actions were not influenced by any outside officials or agencies. The use of inappropriate criteria to screen applicants resulted in significant delays for groups applying for tax exempt status, and also allowed unnecessary requests for information, the report found. Among the criteria that IRS employees used to flag groups for extra scrutiny was having words like "tea...

Steven Miller is breaking his silence about the scandal that’s engulfing the Internal Revenue Service. Miller, the acting IRS commissioner, is quickly emerging as the focus of fury in Washington after an agency official acknowledged last week that conservative groups seeking nonprofit status were targeted for extra screening if their applications included words such as “tea party” or “patriot.” In an op-ed published Tuesday in USA Today, he said the agency was simply trying to manage the explosive growth in applications for 501(c)(4) status that started pouring in to the IRS in 2010. "The Internal Revenue Service recognizes that we...

The House Ways and Means Committee has scheduled a formal hearing Friday to probe the Internal Revenue Service for placing heavier scrutiny on conservative groups that applied for nonprofit status between 2010 and 2012. IRS Commissioner Steve Miller and Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George are expected to testify Friday morning during the hearing, which committee leaders said would examine the agency's "practice of targeting applicants for tax-exempt status based on political leanings." The IRS last week apologized for targeting groups that advocate for limited government by requiring them to fulfill onerous requirements before receiving tax-exempt status....