[h=3]By JARED A. FAVOLE[/h]WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama on Monday again defended his administration's response to an attack on a diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, and called a Republican-led investigation politically driven and a "sideshow."
Bloomberg NewsU.S. President Barack Obama spoke Monday during a news conference with U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron.
Mr. Obama's comments come as Republicans are widening their probe into whether election-year politics drove the White House to meddle with intelligence information. The investigation, along with a growing Internal Revenue Service scandal, are overshadowing the White House's attempts to drive through Mr. Obama's second-term agenda.
Mr. Obama said "nobody understood exactly" what was going on in the first few days following the assault on the diplomatic mission on Sept. 11, 2012.
"Keep in mind, by the way, these so-called talking points that were prepared for Susan Rice, five, six days after the event occurred, pretty much matched the assessments that I was receiving at that time in my presidential daily briefing," which is considered to have the best and most up-to-date information from the U.S. intelligence community.
He made the comments in a joint news conference Monday with U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron.
Mr. Obama said it was clear the U.S. mission wasn't adequately protected. He said he called the attack "terrorism" the following day, a point of contention with critics who say the White House resisted identifying the assault as terrorism rather than a spontaneous demonstration turned violent. In his comments on Sept. 12, the president didn't directly call the attack terrorism but did say: "No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation."
Four Americans were killed in the attack, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, leading to months of questions over security, the absence of a military response during the attack and politically charged accusations about the Obama administration's handling of the aftermath.
After the assault, the administration set up an Accountability Review Board appointed by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to size up the adequacy of U.S. security measures and preparations at the facility in Libya. Lawmakers have sought to discredit the board, but Mr. Obama defended its work.
Mr. Obama said some people are trying to make a controversy out of nothing. He said the White House provided emails showing its involvement in coordinating the administration's response to Congress months ago.
"And suddenly, three days ago, this gets spun up as if there's something new to the story. There's no there there," he said. "And the fact that this keeps on getting churned out, frankly, has a lot to do with political motivations."
Mr. Obama also commented on the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups.
"If you've got the IRS operating in anything less than a neutral and nonpartisan way, then that is outrageous, it is contrary to our traditions, and people have to be held accountable," Mr. Obama said in his first comments on anger over the IRS's handling of dozens of applications by tea-party, patriot and other conservative groups for tax-exempt status. Mr. Obama said he wants to wait for the IRS inspector general to complete an investigation but said, "I've got no patience with it, I will not tolerate it and we will make sure that we find out exactly what happened."
Messrs. Obama and Cameron had met in the Oval Office ahead of the news conference to discuss the conflict in Syria, the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and the strengthening of economic ties.
Mr. Cameron said he hoped the U.S. and the U.K. could launch talks for a trade deal ahead of the Group of Eight leading nations summit next month in Northern Ireland.
"For Britain alone, an ambitious deal could be worth up to £10 billion a year, boosting industries from car manufacturing to financial services," Mr. Cameron said.
The two leaders also discussed the future of Syria, where a civil war has led to the death of more than 70,000 people. Both leaders have tried to find a political solution to end the bloodshed and vowed to continue pressuring Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to leave power.
"Syria's history is being written in the blood of her people, and it is happening on our watch," Mr. Cameron said. "The challenges remain formidable, but we have an urgent window of opportunity before the worst fears are realized. There is no more urgent international task than this."
—Tennille Tracy and Scott Patterson contributed to this article.Write to Jared A. Favole at [email protected]
Bloomberg NewsU.S. President Barack Obama spoke Monday during a news conference with U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron.
Mr. Obama's comments come as Republicans are widening their probe into whether election-year politics drove the White House to meddle with intelligence information. The investigation, along with a growing Internal Revenue Service scandal, are overshadowing the White House's attempts to drive through Mr. Obama's second-term agenda.
Mr. Obama said "nobody understood exactly" what was going on in the first few days following the assault on the diplomatic mission on Sept. 11, 2012.
"Keep in mind, by the way, these so-called talking points that were prepared for Susan Rice, five, six days after the event occurred, pretty much matched the assessments that I was receiving at that time in my presidential daily briefing," which is considered to have the best and most up-to-date information from the U.S. intelligence community.
He made the comments in a joint news conference Monday with U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron.
Mr. Obama said it was clear the U.S. mission wasn't adequately protected. He said he called the attack "terrorism" the following day, a point of contention with critics who say the White House resisted identifying the assault as terrorism rather than a spontaneous demonstration turned violent. In his comments on Sept. 12, the president didn't directly call the attack terrorism but did say: "No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation."
Four Americans were killed in the attack, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, leading to months of questions over security, the absence of a military response during the attack and politically charged accusations about the Obama administration's handling of the aftermath.
After the assault, the administration set up an Accountability Review Board appointed by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to size up the adequacy of U.S. security measures and preparations at the facility in Libya. Lawmakers have sought to discredit the board, but Mr. Obama defended its work.
Mr. Obama said some people are trying to make a controversy out of nothing. He said the White House provided emails showing its involvement in coordinating the administration's response to Congress months ago.
"And suddenly, three days ago, this gets spun up as if there's something new to the story. There's no there there," he said. "And the fact that this keeps on getting churned out, frankly, has a lot to do with political motivations."
Mr. Obama also commented on the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups.
"If you've got the IRS operating in anything less than a neutral and nonpartisan way, then that is outrageous, it is contrary to our traditions, and people have to be held accountable," Mr. Obama said in his first comments on anger over the IRS's handling of dozens of applications by tea-party, patriot and other conservative groups for tax-exempt status. Mr. Obama said he wants to wait for the IRS inspector general to complete an investigation but said, "I've got no patience with it, I will not tolerate it and we will make sure that we find out exactly what happened."
Messrs. Obama and Cameron had met in the Oval Office ahead of the news conference to discuss the conflict in Syria, the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and the strengthening of economic ties.
Mr. Cameron said he hoped the U.S. and the U.K. could launch talks for a trade deal ahead of the Group of Eight leading nations summit next month in Northern Ireland.
"For Britain alone, an ambitious deal could be worth up to £10 billion a year, boosting industries from car manufacturing to financial services," Mr. Cameron said.
The two leaders also discussed the future of Syria, where a civil war has led to the death of more than 70,000 people. Both leaders have tried to find a political solution to end the bloodshed and vowed to continue pressuring Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to leave power.
"Syria's history is being written in the blood of her people, and it is happening on our watch," Mr. Cameron said. "The challenges remain formidable, but we have an urgent window of opportunity before the worst fears are realized. There is no more urgent international task than this."
—Tennille Tracy and Scott Patterson contributed to this article.Write to Jared A. Favole at [email protected]