Rep. Elijah Cummings Debunks Right-Wing Media Claim That Clinton Misled The Public About Benghazi

Cummings: Clinton “Was Acting On The Information That She Had At That Moment. The CIA Was Giving Her Different Scenarios”

From the November 5 edition of CNN's New Day:

Video file

CHRIS CUOMO (HOST): Let's go to the matters at hand. You were very vocal in that Benghazi last commission hearing there and what you thought was an unfair line of questioning and motivation for this. Were you moved by anything that came out of it that made the other members feel vindicated in their efforts?

REP. ELIJAH CUMMINGS: I was moved when Mr. Gowdy said at the end of the hearing that he had not found out anything after we had spent close to $5 million on this investigation. And that's just with our committee. And then the $14 million that the State Department has spent answering subpoenas, you know, that's quite a bit of money. And by the way, that's taxpayer money. So, you know, that was very interesting. But the other thing that I was impressed with is Secretary Clinton, I thought she answered the questions forthrightly. And after 11 hours, 11 hours of questioning, I thought she held up well.

CUOMO: The stamina was certainly commented on. The two big headlines that came out were the access of Sidney Blumenthal and of course, the switching of stories, as it was described, immediately after the actual tragedy where one thing was then said by the then-secretary to friends and family, another thing said to the American people. Your reckoning of those?

CUMMINGS: Chris, I was completely satisfied with her answers. I was familiar with all the documents, the many transcripts in this -- in our dealings. The information was very fluid during those course of days, immediately after this terrorist act. And, again, she was acting on information that she had at the moment. And it's interesting that one of the documents that they pulled was the one where she was talking to her daughter in an email. Again, this was a document that could have been marked easily personal, but she turned it over anyway. And again, she was acting on the information that she had at that moment. The CIA was giving her different scenarios. And so, I thought -- I felt comfortable with her answer. And I thought she did a good job.

Previously:

Fox News Seizes On Rubio's Debate Comments To Push Falsehood About Clinton And Benghazi

CBS' Charlie Rose Pushes Back Against Marco Rubio's False Claim That “Hillary Clinton Lied About Benghazi”

Washington Post's Glenn Kessler Debunks Marco Rubio's False Claim About Hillary Clinton And Benghazi

Media Outlets Call Out And Correct Rubio's Repeatedly Debunked Debate Claim About Hillary Clinton And Benghazi