Secretary of State Hillary Clinton looks on as President Barack Obama delivers a statement Sept. 12, 2012 on the death of U.S. ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington.Read moreWitnesses recount organized Benghazi attack
WASHINGTON – Here is a timeline of comments by the administration and Libyan officials on what they believed happened in the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, beginning the night of the assault and continuing through September.
Republicans have criticized the administration for its description of the attack, suggesting they insisted it was a protest over a film that insulted the Prophet Muhammad because acknowledging it was a terror attack would have affected the presidential campaign. The administration says it gave out the information it had, as it became available, and has strongly objected to the accusation that its messaging was politically motivated.
Sept. 11, 2012:
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in a statement on the attack on Benghazi, notes that “some have sought to justify this vicious behavior as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet.”