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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Video: Clinton and Benghazi


In this week’s fact-checking video, CNN’s Jake Tapper takes a look at key public and private statements made by then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the day of the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks in Benghazi and the days immediately following. The attacks on the U.S. diplomatic facility and CIA annex resulted in the deaths of four Americans.

As we have written, the Obama administration was quick to blame an online anti-Muslim video, which did trigger protests in Egypt and elsewhere, and slow to acknowledge that the heavily armed assault in Benghazi was a terrorist attack. “Hillary Clinton contributed to that false impression even though the State Department and Hillary Clinton seemed to know from the beginning that this was a terrorist attack,” Tapper says.

The video is based on our item “The Benghazi Timeline, Clinton Edition” and part of our collaboration with CNN’s “State of the Union.” Previous episodes can be found on our “State of the Union with Jake Tapper” page.