FSM NATIONAL SECURITY TEAM
The Honorable John Boehner
Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives
The Capitol, H-232
Washington, D.C., 20515
January 6, 2014
Dear Speaker Boehner,
We write to express our grave concern over the failure of your House
of Representatives to extract the truth from the Obama administration
concerning the attack on our diplomatic and intelligence facilities in
Benghazi, Libya; and, the brutal deaths of Ambassador Christopher
Stephens, U.S. Foreign Service Officer Sean Smith, and security officers
Ty Woods and Glen Doherty.
To date, five (5) different committees of the House have conducted
separate hearings, uncovering information in a piecemeal fashion lacking
professional investigators. The five committees' efforts are
disjointed and uncoordinated. The Obama administration has benefited
from that dysfunctional process to hide the truth. Hardly any Obama
administration witnesses have testified - publicly or privately. You
have resisted repeated calls for the creation of a select investigative
committee with subpoena authority. It appears that you are satisfied
to allow that state of investigative incoherence and ambiguity to
continue. The last public hearing by any of the five committees was
held in September - four (4) months ago. The families of the dead who
fought valiantly to protect the mission and their families, the
survivors, and the American people deserve better from you and your
Members of Congress. They deserve the absolute truth from their
government. Your failure to get the truth and hold public officials
accountable increases the possibility of other repeat attacks and
additional failures to defend Americans abroad.
On Sunday, December 29, 2013, the New York Times published a story
concerning the Benghazi attacks that directly contradicts the sworn
testimony of witnesses who appeared before various committees. Besides
the obvious New York Times editorial and political objectives of
inoculating Hillary Clinton and her 2016 presidential campaign from
further criticism of her failures as Secretary of State, the story
contradicts objective truth and established facts in a way that confuses
the public. Your inaction and failure to lead on the Benghazi
investigation directly contributes to the repetition of lies; a lack of
accountability from responsible government officials; and the political
advancement of persons who seek to continue to "fundamentally
transform" the Constitution and our country. The New York Times recent
publication proves the Benghazi story is not "going away."
Your oversight of the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of
Investigation has been without any meaningful effect or result. Not a
single terrorist in this well-planned and executed military attack by
radical Islamists has been apprehended. Ahmed Abu Khattala, a ringleader
of the attack, granted long interviews to reporters in Benghazi cafes,
while the Obama administration - and you - have done nothing. Nearly
16 months after the terrorist attack, the American public has no
accountability and no plan of action from House leadership. The public
is subjected to undisputed disinformation from a White House who calls
the terror attack a "phony scandal." While the White House repeats false
and misleading information, you continue to ignore claims, documented
by Rep. Frank Wolf, of intelligence officers being intimidated with
multiple, punitive polygraph examinations and harassing non-disclosure
agreement demands. If Benghazi is "phony" why are intelligence officers
being threatened not to speak and subjected to polygraph exams? Why do
you stand by passively?
Some analysts believe your inaction and passivity towards getting to
the truth concerning Benghazi is because you were briefed on the
intelligence and special operations activities in Libya as a member of
the "Super 8." You may possess "guilty knowledge." We recall how
then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi developed a form of "amnesia" concerning a
documented briefing she received on so-called "enhanced interrogation
techniques" - later termed "torture" for political purposes. Are you in
the same position as your predecessor? Are you dodging a legitimate,
thorough, coordinated investigation of Benghazi because it will damage
your political position as Speaker?
You should be embarrassed that members of Congress, and your own
party, are forced to file Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests
with Obama administration agencies to get basic information about the
Benghazi issue. What a sad and pathetic statement about the operations
of House standing committees looking into this tragedy that FOIA has
become the last resort of even Republican Members seeking the truth! Are
you concerned that the scattershot and untimely efforts of the various
committees may actually be doing more harm than good at documenting
facts? These are all examples of Republican leadership failures. How are
you accountable?
Rep. Mike Rogers and the Intelligence Committee seem to act as
defense counsel for the Obama administration. A recent Intelligence
Committee weekly update note stated as fact that no arms shipments were
being run from Libya, and that no intelligence officers were being
coerced not to speak. There is substantial evidence to the contrary on
both counts. Why does Rep. Rogers parrot the discredited falsehoods of
the so-called "Accountability Review Board" (ARB)? Conflicting accounts,
testimony and evidence need to be investigated - not dismissed or
ignored. Don't those contradictions and questions compel you, on behalf
of the American people, to take any action to resolve the matter and
get to the truth?
Aren't you concerned that General Carter Ham was suddenly and
prematurely recalled from AFRICOM, and then made statements at the Aspen
Institute that directly contradicted the Obama administration's
position on the nature of the attack in Benghazi? Why has General Ham
not testified publicly before one of the House committees?
The New York Times story reports that the CIA was, in fact,
collecting weapons in Benghazi. If true, why was the CIA running a
separate, parallel weapons program from the State Department's $40
million collection effort? Where did the CIA-purchased weapons go? Is
the Obama administration arming al Qaeda affiliated jihadists in Syria?
If you wished, you could have publicly engaged Rep. Devin Nunes
concerning his November 6, 2013 letter to you, addressing the nine
unanswered questions about Benghazi. Instead, there was thundering
silence from your office. You have an opportunity to show strong
leadership and resolve a national disgrace perpetrated by specific
public officials. You are failing.
Your reluctance to lead and resistance to create a Select Committee
on Benghazi must end. More than 75% of all House Republicans - with the
conspicuous absence of those in leadership or committee chairmen - have
cosponsored Rep. Wolf's Select Committee bill. Few bills in this
Congress demonstrate such overwhelming support from Republicans.
Additionally, the bill enjoys the support of national security advocacy
groups, and the Wall Street Journal editorial board, among many others.
We urge you to bring the bill to the floor for a vote immediately to
start effective oversight on this critical national security matter
immediately. We have waited long enough. Your approach is not working.
Mr. Speaker, we call upon you to act now and create a Select
Committee on Benghazi to investigate all aspects of the United States
involvement in Libya, to include, but not be limited to the attacks of
September 11, 2012. It must now also include the protracted cover-up the
American people, the families of the fallen and those with loved ones
serving overseas have endured. The new committee must have subpoena
power, capable staff and Members from both parties who are committed to
finding the truth, not playing politics. The Committee must be staffed
with new, professional, qualified and experienced investigators. It
must have resources to conduct a thorough, comprehensive investigation
and issue an exhaustive report before this Congress adjourns.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned:
Charles Woods, Father of Ty Woods
Pat Smith, Mother of Sean Smith
Michael Ingmire, Musician/Writer, Uncle to Sean Smith
and
Adm. Jerome L. Johnson, USN Ret., former Vice Chief of Naval Operations
Lt. Gen. E.G. "Buck" Shuler, Jr., USAF, (Ret)
Lt. Gen. Richard D. Lawrence, USA (Ret)
LTG William G. Boykin, USA (Ret)
Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely, USA Ret, Chairman, Stand Up America
Maj. Gen. Carroll D. Childers, USA (Ret), Ranger
Maj. Gen. Thomas F. Cole, USA (Ret)
Maj. Gen. Richard M. Cooke, USMC (Ret)
Amb. Henry F. Cooper, Former Director, Strategic Defense Initiative
LTC Allen B. West (US Army, Ret) former Congressman, FL
Capt Joseph R. John, USNA ‘62, USN (Ret), Chairman, Combat Veterans For Congress PAC
Debra Burlingame, Co-founder, 9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America
Elaine Donnelly, President, Center for Military Readiness
Dick Brauer, Col, USAF (Ret), Special Operation Speaks
Tom Fitton, President, Judicial Watch
Allen Roth, Secure America Now
Joel A. Arends, Veterans for a Strong America
Ginni Thomas, President, Liberty Consulting
Catherine Engelbrecht, President, True the Vote
Anita MonCrief, Black Voters Alliance
David Wallace, Restore America's Mission
Dr. James Pollock, Maj., USAF (Ret), OIF VETx2, SOCOM, Wounded Warrior Congressional Advocate
John J. Molloy, Chairman, National Vietnam & Gulf War Veterans Coalition
James C. Harding, Col USAF (Ret) National Spokesman for Veteran Defenders of America
Diane M. Sendlenski, Veteran US Air Force, Special Operations Speaks Coordinator
John G. B. Howland, Publisher, USNA-At-Large
Katherine Cornell Gorka, Executive Director, The Westminster Institute
Paul Caprio, Executive Director, Family Pac Federal
William L. Walton, Chairman, Rappahannock Ventures LLC
Sandy Rios, Director of Governmental Affairs, American Family Association
David Horowitz, President, Freedom Center
Peter Thomas, Chairman, The Conservative Caucus
Rear Adm. Hugh P. Scott, MC, USN (Ret)
Rear Adm. Bill McDaniel, USN (Ret)
Rear Adm. John A. Moriarty, USN, (Ret)
Rear Adm. Robert B. McClinton, USN (Ret)
Rear Adm. Don G. Primeau, USN (Ret)
Brig. Gen. Michael Neil, USMCR (Ret)
Brig. Gen. Francis Hughes, USA (Ret)
Brig. Gen. John Zierdt, Jr., USA (Ret)
Brig. Gen. Michael T. Byrnes, USA (Ret)
Brig. Gen. William A. Bloomer, USMC (Ret)
Captain Kenneth Rauch, USN (Ret)
Captain Peter A. Hewett, JAGC, U.S. Navy (Ret)
Captain James Knight, USN (Ret)
Captain Roger W. Barnett, USN (Ret)
Captain Gregory Streeter, USN (Ret) USNA '58
Col. G. Huntington Banister, USA (Ret), and former Acting Director, Selective Service System, 1994
Col. S. Badiner, USMC (Ret)
Col. Gregory G. Raths, USMC (Ret)
Col. Joseph V. Potter, USAF (Ret)
Col. Rob Maness, USAF (Ret), U.S. Senate Candidate 2014, R-Louisiana
Dan Bongino, 2012 Republican Nominee for US Senate, MD
Lt. Col. Ken Benway, USA (Ret)
Lt. Col. Dennis B. Haney, USAF (Ret)
CDR Randolph J. Horhutz, USNA '61, SC, USN (Ret)
Everett Woolum, CMSGT, USAF (Ret)
Gregory J. Rose, USNA '73
Thomas Corboy, USNA, ‘61
Anthony R. Papandrea, USNA ‘61
Raymond H. Clary, Jr., USNA ‘65
John W. Slagle, U.S. Navy Aviation veteran (Ret) Special Agent U.S.B.P. Anti-Smuggling Unit
Sarah Folger White, Former Presidential Commissioner
Dick and Patricia Schermerhorn, Appleton, WI
Lee Boyland, Author, former military officer, entrepreneur, nuclear engineer
Susan Creed Percy, Advocate for Military Families
Dave Hollenbeck, retired CA Highway Patrol
Paul F. Wirtz, Military family, OH resident
John Lillywhite, U.S. Citizen
Gene Andrews, U. S. Citizen
Mrs. Nancy Olbert, Supervisor Criminal Advocates, Daytona, FL State Attorney Office
Dr. Frank Ingels, Military Defense Consultant, MSIC/TETRA Office
Robert M. Trent, Senior Special Agent, USINS and former Marine and Vietnam combat veteran
Kelly Monroe Kullberg, Christians for a Sustainable Economy; OH resident
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