See below notes from my FNC colleague Kara Rowland:
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Rep. Adam Smith, Washington Democrat and ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, pushed back against suggestions the initial talking points for Benghazi were changed, saying those claims are “completely wrong.” He also insisted the attack was “somewhat spontaneous.”
Smith addressed reporters ON-CAM after a briefing of relevant committee chairs and ranking members by DNI Clapper and other national security officials in the House Intel area, which is still pool.
Smith:
-”Nobody has ever denied that it was a terrorist attack. What we’ve questioned is how far planned was it.”
-It was somewhat spontaneous
-”It was both a terrorist attack AND spontaneous. And why that has to be mutually exclusive is completely beyond me.”
-The over-politicization is really regrettable
-Notion talking points were changed is “completely wrong”; there is simply nothing to that
-As of now, it doesn’t appear that Ansar al Sharia is directly affiliated with al Qaeda but we are still gathering intelligence on that
-Talking points were not changed. Very basic and straightforward.
-Clapper read the talking points to lawmakers in the briefing
-To this point today we still don’t know who did it
-Video of the attack takes about half an hour to watch
-They didn’t get to see it – Smith was clearly upset by this
Kara Rowland
Capitol Hill producer, Fox News
