Benghazi Shocker: Susan Rice Didn’t Know CIA Annex Existed During TV Blitz

TEL AVIV – When she went on five television talk shows to deliver the Obama administration’s response to the Benghazi attacks, UN Ambassador Susan Rice says she did not even know about the existence of the CIA Annex in Benghazi.

The CIA Annex was one of two targets of the very attacks that she was discussing on September 16, 2012, when Rice infamously appeared on five morning talk shows – on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News, and CNN – telling the story of protests that erupted “spontaneously” as a result of a “hateful video” offending Islam.  The other target was the U.S. Special Mission, which was attacked first and located about 1.2 miles from the CIA Annex.

The startling admission about her lack of knowledge of the events was provided by Rice herself in testimony to the House and was contained in the final report of the House Republicans Select Committee on Benghazi released on Tuesday and reviewed in full by Breitbart Jerusalem.

Ben Rhodes, the White House’s Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting, has admitted that he selected Rice to represent the administration’s views and appear on the talk shows five days after the attacks.

The Benghazi report finds that Rice was Rhode’s third choice after Hillary Clinton and then National Security Adviser Thomas Donilon declined.

In doing so, the Committee found, “the administration selected an individual who did not even know there was a CIA presence in Benghazi, let alone the fact that two Americans had died there.”

The Benghazi report quotes from Rice’s testimony on the subject, where she admits she was ill informed:

Q: Did you learn between September 11 and September 16 that were was a CIA presence in Benghazi?

A: I think—no. I think I learned subsequently.

Q: So nobody told you between the dates of September 11 and September 16 that two of the four Americans who were killed who were providing security actually worked for the CIA and not the State Department?

A: Not that I recall.

Q: All right. And you learned that subsequently?

A: To the best of my recollection, I learned it subsequently.

With research by Joshua Klein.

Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio.” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook.