Obama administration officials have insisted the White House and
State Department had a minor role in altering an erroneous account of a
deadly attack on a US compound in Libya last year, after internal emails
surfaced indicating it was shaped by political concerns.
''The White House involvement was very limited and non-substantive,'' Jay Carney, President Barack Obama's spokesman, said. ''The talking points reflect the intelligence community assessment of what happened.''
The account, used by Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the United Nations, on television talk shows days after the September 11 attack in Benghazi, went through at least 12 versions with input from administration officials, according to emails cited on Friday by ABC News.
The revelation by ABC News contradicts earlier White House comments the memo was mostly developed by the CIA.
While Republicans have said the talking points were tailored to deflect criticism in the weeks before last year's presidential election, the administration insisted it made only ''stylistic'' changes to an account originally drafted by the CIA. The emails cited by ABC showed extensive revisions.
Administration officials didn't question the accuracy of the emails, while describing them as normal give-and-take in preparing an account that was initially requested by lawmakers.
Republicans such as Senator John McCain of Arizona for months have portrayed the administration's account of the attack as intentionally misleading.
''I've known it was a cover-up for a long time,'' Senator McCain said in an interview last week. ''The narrative of the presidential campaign was that Osama bin Laden was dead, al-Qaeda was 'on the run', decimated, and this act obviously was only from a spontaneous demonstration.''
Administration officials defended their editing process, saying the talking points were crafted just four days after the attack as intelligence agencies were still sorting through information about the cause and perpetrators.
They said they wanted to be cautious in public comments to avoid influencing the investigation that was under way.
''The White House involvement was very limited and non-substantive,'' Jay Carney, President Barack Obama's spokesman, said. ''The talking points reflect the intelligence community assessment of what happened.''
The account, used by Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the United Nations, on television talk shows days after the September 11 attack in Benghazi, went through at least 12 versions with input from administration officials, according to emails cited on Friday by ABC News.
The revelation by ABC News contradicts earlier White House comments the memo was mostly developed by the CIA.
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The talking points erroneously portrayed the attack that
killed US ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans as
growing out of a ''spontaneous'' protest against an anti-Islamic video, a
demonstration that was hijacked by extremists. The administration later
acknowledged the account was incorrect.While Republicans have said the talking points were tailored to deflect criticism in the weeks before last year's presidential election, the administration insisted it made only ''stylistic'' changes to an account originally drafted by the CIA. The emails cited by ABC showed extensive revisions.
Administration officials didn't question the accuracy of the emails, while describing them as normal give-and-take in preparing an account that was initially requested by lawmakers.
Republicans such as Senator John McCain of Arizona for months have portrayed the administration's account of the attack as intentionally misleading.
''I've known it was a cover-up for a long time,'' Senator McCain said in an interview last week. ''The narrative of the presidential campaign was that Osama bin Laden was dead, al-Qaeda was 'on the run', decimated, and this act obviously was only from a spontaneous demonstration.''
Administration officials defended their editing process, saying the talking points were crafted just four days after the attack as intelligence agencies were still sorting through information about the cause and perpetrators.
They said they wanted to be cautious in public comments to avoid influencing the investigation that was under way.
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