May 8, 2013

"The sense I got was that I needed to stop the line of questioning."

Gregory Hicks "was soon given a scathing review of his management style, he said, and was later 'effectively demoted' to desk officer at headquarters, in what he believes was retaliation for speaking up."
Mr. Hicks offered an unbecoming view of political supervision and intimidation inside the Obama administration. When Representative Jason Chaffetz, Republican of Utah, visited Libya after the attack, Mr. Hicks said his bosses told him not to talk to the congressman. When he did anyway, and a State Department lawyer was excluded from one meeting because he lacked the necessary security clearance, Mr. Hicks said he received an angry phone call from Mrs. Clinton’s chief of staff, Cheryl Mills.

40 comments:

madAsHell said...

Obama and Clinton are incompetent.

I blame George Bush.

Michael K said...

I watched Hicks' testimony. Cummings showed the plan; attack Hicks.

The Democrats all lined up to defend the administration. There was noting like Baker in the Watergate hearings. The Democrats have better discipline, no matter about the truth.

Saint Croix said...

That is good reporting from the NYT.

The explosive 5 minute video clip of this exchange can be seen here.

test said...

The hearing offered a compelling, often emotional view from the ground...

But from the more detached standpoint of senior officials in Washington


Get that good liberals? These are well meaning but emotional career foreign service officers. Reasonable people agree the dead couldn't be helped.

cubanbob said...

This isn't going to go away. Hillary is done. Stick a fork in her. Barry is going down in flames. He is now more of a lame duck than Bush was in August of 2008. Too bad these two will never see the inside of a jail cell.

edutcher said...

The same sort of thing is also going on at the Pentagon.

This isn't Chicago, it's Central America, pre WWII.

test said...

cubanbob said...
He is now more of a lame duck than Bush was in August of 2008.


I don't know what makes you think this. None of the leftist institutions that drive policy - media, academia, NGOs - will change one single tactic because of today's hearing or really anything that comes out about Benghazi.

KCFleming said...

I wish I cared about this.

No one will pay for this, save for some underlings.

Conservatives will hate Hillary and Obama for their actions here, but it'll affect nothing,

Some loss of imperviousness, but tomorrow will be the same.

Nothing will change. I wish it were otherwise.

KCFleming said...

How I learned to stop questioning and love the Bam.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Mr. Hicks said he received an angry phone call from Mrs. Clinton’s chief of staff, Cheryl Mills.

She's baaaak!

Carl said...

I consider it both a sign of the ongoing effeminization of American political life and the continuing soft misogyny of low expectations that anyone even gives a damn.

Four good men are dead and the nation humiliated. But tonight's big news is...Hillary was mean to the guy who blew the whistle on her arrogant incompetence. The bitch!

Well, I guess when your principal qualification for high office is your double X chromosome and its wonderful takes a village consensus-building instincts, that's karma.

Still I regret the touchy-feely evolution here. In Eisenhower's day, still less Disraeli's, the disloyal aide would have been flat-out fired, his taxes audited, his cat killed and the body nailed to his door, and his lawn sown with dandelions and thistles. But he wouldn't have dared whine about it. That's just what you expect from civil disobedience.

But on the other hand the facts he thus revealed, that the Secretary of State was such a puss when American honor was on the line, and then a contemptible blame everyone else weasel afterward, would've been sufficient all by themselves to have reasonable people turn from his boss in contempt and hoist him on their shoulders as the plucky hero.

Brave new world.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

It was like the Sopranos... don't talk to anybody without one of our lawyers present... or something.



William said...

Pogo's right. This can't compete with the Cleveland story, and next week there will be another story. The story already is that it was a long time ago and it's time to move on to more important things. This will be a black mark against Clinton but it doesn't rise to the level of scandal such as we witnessed in Romney's dog handling.

Unknown said...

You have to care. If enough people don't care we get what is happening here.
Everyone knows there is a cover up.
Everyone knows how high it goes.
Everyone knows they will get away with it.
Everyone knows the people involved will not only get a pass they will thrive politically because there are enough people in high places and enough blind followers and enough low information drones and enough media hacks to make it happen

They barely bother to pretend to cover their tracks.

ampersand said...

Hillary should run for Governor of Illinois. She's eminently qualified.I bet she would take real well to prison life. Bubba would visit as often as he was allowed to watch.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

This can't compete with the Cleveland story...

I'm going to keep saying it until I'm blue in the chest.

Gosnell, Benghazi and Cleveland are the same story.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

oh... did I leave out the Boston Bombing?

I'm just not paying enough attention.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

They barely bother to pretend to cover their tracks.

Look who's left looking.

Blogs and who's army?

I don't mean to put down Althouse valiant efforts, but we hardly constitute a storming troop... knowwhatimean?

I'm picturing a meeting getting held up by titus arguing about the color of the uniforms.

Matt said...

Pogo is right. This will slide off Hillary just like Slick Willie. Wait, that sounded wrong...

The only chance is if someone outside of Fox runs with the story but that isn't going to happen.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

This will be a black mark against Clinton but it doesn't rise to the level of scandal such as we witnessed in Romney's dog handling.

Well, even then... nobody accused Romney of leaving the dog behind.

Tim said...

This is a promising development for Health Care Reform.

Just wait until they check blog comments to determine whether or not you get insulin for diabetes.

This is gonna rule!

Matt said...

I don't know if it is possible, but they need to call Hillary back to testify and call in Susan Rice. Separate days so they each get their own coverage. Keep the questions simple: "Ambassador Rice, when and where were you told that the attacks were incited by a Youtube? Who said it and who else was in the room?"

David said...

It's hardball, folks. This should come as no surprise.

If Hilary gets to be President, Cheryl Mills will be on the Supreme Court if she wants. She has the credentials (Stanford Law and Law Review). But most important she has the goods on Hillary. And Bill.

This is very dirty work. It can bring big rewards.

Trashhauler said...

I cannot get over the mindless cowardice of it all. Your people are attacked and your first inclination is to coordinate talking points about how it wasn't really enemy action and any response was going to be futile, anyway. And then to compound your cowardice as the fight dragged on and on, by sticking with the cover story. How unfortunate it was that the people you had abandoned inconveniently extended the fight, requiring even more CYA action on your part. Christ, does the word "honor" mean nothing to these people?

FedkaTheConvict said...

Remember that Watergate was initially dismissed as a "third rate burglary" until the steady drip of information caused the public to pay attention. The same is likely here; other hearings are scheduled and if you pay close attention to the comments of people like Trey Gowdy there are more disclosures to come.

I don't expect Benghazi to bring down the President, only hobble him for the rest of his term.
But the Republicans need to change their tactics a bit; instead of a single 6 hour hearing, Issa should schedule 2 hour hearings over three consecutive days. That will ensure that events like Cleveland or Jody Arias don't divert attention.

doustoi said...

Comparisons to Watergate miss the point that the media (WaPo) passionately wanted to destroy the administration, and the passion informed their work. Does anyone seriously believe that any media save Fox wants this administration held responsible?

edutcher said...

Matt said...

Pogo is right. This will slide off Hillary just like Slick Willie. Wait, that sounded wrong...

Matt's hoping it, anywho.

Trashhauler said...

Christ, does the word "honor" mean nothing to these people?

To ask the question is to answer it.

machine said...

"This isn't Chicago, it's Central America, pre WWII."

...says the party of torture and outing agents for partisan political purposes...

Thanks for the chuckle...

Nathan Alexander said...

Does anyone seriously believe that any media save Fox wants this administration held responsible?

I think even most of the staff at Fox News don't want the administration held responsible.

Despite the propaganda, the news arm of Fox News is not conservative. Its opinion talent is conservative, but the rest come from the same journalist college grad pool as CBS, NBC, PBS, and the NYT.

Fox News still covers almost all the same topics as the rest of the MSM, with almost the same take on almost all the issues.

The overwhelming leftist propaganda to marginalize anyone who breaks ranks or is disloyal to "The Cause" is what makes people think Fox News is right-wing. Independent studies show that based on word choice, Fox News is, at best, centrist.

The MSM has gone so far in the tank, so far Left, that Fox News just looks right wing in comparison for being mildly liberal.

Take one data point: does anyone want to argue that Shep Smith's rantings during Hurricane Katrina were conservative in any way, shape, or form? He was leading the effort to spread the anti-Bush propaganda.

Brian Brown said...

Lem said...
Mr. Hicks said he received an angry phone call from Mrs. Clinton’s chief of staff, Cheryl Mills.


If that woman, Ms. Mills, had called me "angry" in this scenario, I would have had her in tears within 2 minutes.

She's a "C" and everyone in DC knows it.

Brian Brown said...

machine said...

...says the party of torture and outing agents for partisan political purposes...


Do you think the constant use of ellipses is funny or original or something?

Hey, since Obama is killing people with drones, is that better or worse than "torture"?

gerry said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Marshal,

I was struck by that same "calm adults in DC knew better section."

What I don't understand in that part is the excuse that the FEST team would not have arrived till long after the survivors were evacuated. Sure, but you don't know that till after it's over and if you haven't started them moving NOW, they won't be there if there is a third round of attacks or fourth, or heaven forbid, a Tripoli hostage grab...

Not moving forces to the sound of the battle because the battle will be over soon is deadly dumb...

Anonymous said...

Well one lesson for State, If you are sending a lawyer to shadow a Congresscritter, make sure your spy is cleared at the same level.

rookie mistake.

RazorSharpSundries said...

Cheryl Mills last seen emerging from the shadows to make nice w/ Hollywood communists:
http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Brad+Horwitz/Cheryl+Mills

Ralph L said...

outing agents for partisan political purposes...
Oh, stop with the Plame lies. She was outed by Powell's buttboy Armitage, both the very definition of RINO, and her own kookoo lefty husband.

test said...

The Drill SGT said...

What I don't understand in that part is the excuse that the FEST team would not have arrived till long after the survivors were evacuated. Sure, but you don't know that till after it's over and if you haven't started them moving NOW, they won't be there if there is a third round of attacks or fourth, or heaven forbid, a Tripoli hostage grab...

Not moving forces to the sound of the battle because the battle will be over soon is deadly dumb...


I agree with this, but I think even here you're allow the administration defenders too much credit. They argue relief couldn't reach Benghazi in time, but that is in part based on the fact that various forces spent all night in various preparations. But they did that after being told not to go. Nowhere does it say those actions were required before a deployment or that they could not have been sped up if a deployment was ordered. It's perfectly plausible they spent the night preparing a contingency plan but that they could have moved immediately if necessary.

Drago said...

machine: "...says the party of torture and outing agents for partisan political purposes..."

Waterboarding is not torture.

Jarrett (a deskbound 9 to 5er at the CIA) was "outed" by Richard Armitage, long time "stater".

Something Fitzpatrick knew within the first week of his investigation.

Drago said...

Marshall: "It's perfectly plausible they spent the night preparing a contingency plan but that they could have moved immediately if necessary."

Correct.

Moving and then planning while en route is not the exception. You can always recall the forces during the planning stage (while en route) if required.

We can move an entire carrier battle group on the mere assumption we "might" do something.

Been there, done that.

Limited Blogger said...

Why was Hillary Clinton intent on making Benghazi a second US outpost in Libya? Hicks testified repeatedly that this is the reason Stevens was in Benghazi, and why he was there on such a dangerous day.

Stevens was in a mad hurry to get there and submit a report so that funding to open the outpost could occur before a 9/30/12 budget deadline. Then Hillary planned to visit Libya shortly afterwards to announce the opening of this Benghazi outpost.

Why were we opening a second outpost in Libya?

And WHY was this omitted from the ARB report?

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/testimony-stevens-went-benghazi-mission-91112-so-clinton-could-announce-upcoming-libyan