Rice concession on Libya fails to mollify 3 in GOP
BY DONNA CASSATA Associated Press
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
11/28/12 at 4:39 AM
WASHINGTON - U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice told lawmakers Tuesday that her initial explanation of the deadly Sept. 11 raid in Libya was wrong, but her concession failed to mollify three Republican senators who signaled they would try to block her possible nomination to be secretary of state.
In a closed-door meeting that Rice requested, the ambassador answered questions from Sens. John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Kelly Ayotte about her much-maligned explanations about the cause of the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. She was joined by acting CIA Director Michael Morell.
"The talking points provided by the intelligence community, and the initial assessment upon which they were based, were incorrect in a key respect: There was no protest or demonstration in Benghazi," Rice said in a statement after the meeting. "While we certainly wish that we had had perfect information just days after the terrorist attack, as is often the case the intelligence assessment has evolved."
Rice's unusual visit to Capitol Hill - typically only nominees meet privately with lawmakers - reflects the Obama administration's campaign for the current front-runner to replace Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton against some strenuous GOP opposition.
"We are significantly troubled by many of the answers that we got and some that we didn't get concerning evidence that was leading up to the attack on the consulate," McCain, R-Ariz., told reporters after emerging from the hour-plus session that he described as candid.
Said Graham: "Bottom line I'm more disturbed now than I was before that 16 September explanation." The South Carolina Republican said in a later interview that Rice went "far beyond the flawed talking points" and should be held accountable.
"I'm more troubled today," said Ayotte, R-N.H., who argued that it was clear in the days after the attack that it was terrorism and not a spontaneous demonstration prompted by an anti-Muslim video.
The White House remained defiant in its support for Rice, arguing that she was relying on an assessment from the intelligence community and had no responsibility in compiling the information on the cause of the attack. It dismissed what it characterized as a fixation on her national television appearances five days after the raid.
"The focus on, some might say, obsession on comments made on Sunday shows seems to me and to many, to be misplaced," spokesman Jay Carney told reporters at a White House briefing.
The strong statements from the three senators clouded Rice's prospects only two days after Republican opposition seemed to be softening. Rice planned meetings on Wednesday with Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, who is in line to become the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.
Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., who had indicated late Monday that Rice perhaps had been unwittingly used by the administration, said in a statement Tuesday that Rice is unfit for the top diplomatic post.
"It is now clear that she willingly misled the American public five different times in the days after the attack," Inhofe said. "And for months after the attack she failed to acknowledge, until today, that her account of what happened was deeply and fundamentally flawed."
House Democrats, including female members of the Congressional Black Caucus, have suggested that the GOP opposition to Rice is sexist and racist. Senate Democrats, who will increase their advantage to 55-45 in the next Congress, said Rice could win confirmation if Republicans recognize the unfairness of penalizing her for the intelligence community's talking points.
"The personal attacks against Ambassador Rice by certain Republican senators have been outrageous and utterly unmoored from facts and reality," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said. "I am shocked that senators would continue these attacks even when the evidence - including disclosures from the intelligence community about the information she presented - have made it clear that the allegations against Ambassador Rice are baseless, and that she has done absolutely nothing wrong."
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., told reporters that "it is so unfair to hold her responsible for something that she didn't produce and which the intelligence community has specifically stood by."
Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., who met separately with Rice and Morell, said the ambassador told him that she based her Sunday show appearance on material from the intelligence community and the White House neither provided briefings nor additional talking points.
Lieberman said she made clear she was following the talking points, and her account on Sept. 16 should not disqualify her from any appointment.
Original Print Headline: 3 senators defiant on Rice explanation
Associated Images:
Sen. John McCain (center), R-Ariz., ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, flanked by fellow committee members Sen. Kelly Ayotte (left), R-N.H., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday following a meeting with U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice. SUSAN WALSH/Associated Press
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