It started with a report from Sharyl Attkisson. The CBS reporter – whose computers were hacked as she investigated Benghazi – reported that the Pentagon said Marine Corps. Col. George Bristol was retired and could not be compelled to testify. We now know that Bristol isn’t retired. Now the Pentagon is willing to let him testify.
Marine Col. George Bristol
House Republicans will hear behind closed doors from a senior U.S. Marine Corps officer who was responsible for special forces in Africa on the night of last year’s deadly terror attack on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, despite what some GOP members are saying was an effort by the Pentagon to hide him.
Defense Department officials have previously told congressional investigators and the news media that Col. George Bristol cannot be compelled to testify because he is retired, but Marine Corps Times this week reported that he remains on active duty until the end of the month.
“There is every reason to expect that a briefing [with Col. Bristol] will take place in the near future,” Claude Chafin, the spokesman for the Republican majority on the House Armed Services Committee, told The Washington Times Friday. “We are working out the details with the Department of Defense.”
He said the briefing would likely be in a classified setting. “Questioning our witnesses in a closed briefing allows members to receive information without worrying about the disclosure of classified material.”
“Col. Bristol will be available to meet with House and Senate members and their staffs very soon,” Air Force Maj. Robert A. Firman, a Pentagon spokesman confirmed to The Times.
Considering that the Obama administration, perhaps best personified by its “paid liar” (a quote from Rep. Darrell Issa that he should not back away from) Jay Carney, has racked up a list of lies that qualifies for pathological status, why should anyone believe this was a bureaucratic snafu? With this administration, lies are “situation normal”.
The snafu happened on 9/11/12 in Benghazi. Any attempt to hide the details about that snafu is not a snafu; it’s par for the course.
Nice try, guys.