Attkisson: Why Can’t We See Photos at White House During Benghazi Attack?

Rob Bluey / May 01, 2014

President Obama and national security team in the situation room in 2011. (Photo: Pete Souza/The White House)

Three years ago today — the day Navy SEALs found and killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan — President Obama, Vice President Biden and other high-ranking administration officials gathered in the White House situation room for updates on the raid. A photo of the group, released by the White House, instantly became one of the most memorable images of Obama’s presidency.

Sharyl Attkisson wants to know why the White House didn’t do the same thing after the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that resulted in the deaths of four Americans.

In an interview with Glenn Beck yesterday, Attkisson, a former CBS News investigative reporter, revealed that she requested White House photos taken as events in Benghazi unfolded more than a year ago — only to be met with silence.

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“I’ve asked for the White House photographs taken that night,” Attkisson told Beck. “The White House photo office went from telling me the very day I asked that I could have them to referring me to Josh Earnest, a press officer at the White House, saying he had to release them. And it’s been a year-and-a-half and he won’t return my calls or emails.”

The Foundry reached out to Earnest for comment; as of this story’s publication, he had not responded.

Attkisson, who was assigned by CBS News to investigate Benghazi about three weeks after the attack, said she was regularly stonewalled by the Obama administration.

“We don’t even know what the commander-in-chief did that night,” Attkisson said. “We’re not allowed to know. And I think that’s pretty shocking.”

Beck asked Attkisson to explain how the situation might have played out at the White House. She suggested the White House probably had two narratives it was considering.

“In case there was a good scenario,” Attkisson said, “perhaps the ambassador rescued in a heroic attempt, which I wish had happened, I think there are probably photographs of White House officials in the situation room looking commanding and in control. And those photographs would have been released had this been better.”

Given the outcome of the situation in Benghazi, Attkisson said, the White House chose a different narrative – one that remains shrouded in mystery.

This story was produced by The Foundry’s news team. Nothing here should be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of The Heritage Foundation.