Ex-CIA leader Morell critical of Obama administration colleagues

Former CIA Deputy Director Mike Morell criticized former colleagues in the Obama administration Monday over everything from the 2012 Benghazi attack to their description of the Al Qaeda threat, during an exclusive interview with Fox News’ “Special Report.”

Referring to the Sep. 11, 2012 fiery attack on the CIA annex in Tripoli that killed four Americans, including U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens, Morell said that security at the CIA annex was “far superior” to security at the State Department annex and there was “no doubt in my mind that there was a failure at the State Department. No doubt about it.”

Morell, who served in the Obama administration from 2010 to 2013 and was acting director of the agency for several months, also said that while he became a focus of congressional inquiries over changes he made to the administration’s “talking points” explaining the attacks, “I never intentionally misled anybody. I never lied to Congress.”

Another set of “talking points” later surfaced in an email from deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes specifically drawing attention to an anti-Islam Internet video and saying one goal was "to underscore that these protests are rooted in an Internet video, and not a broader failure of policy."

“I think that is crossing the line between national security and politics,” Morell said.

As for the Benghazi attack itself, Morell said he and other government analysts had concluded “there wasn’t a lot of pre-planning here.” He described the attackers as looking “more like a mob than they are an organized military force.”

Referring to the Al Qaeda threat, he acknowledged originally misreading the effect of the Arab Spring by thinking it was going to undercut the terrorist organization. Instead, he said, it turned out be a “huge boon” for Al Qaeda.

However, he said that as the Obama administration was talking about Al Qaeda being on the run, the CIA was briefing the White House about the spread of Al Qaeda’s ideology. “We told the story as it was happening,” he added.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...e-are-very-dangerous-times/?intcmp=latestnews

 

Charles Krauthammer offered analysis Monday of Bret Baier's exclusive interview with former CIA Deputy Director Mike Morell on "Special Report with Bret Baier," specifically on Morell's recollection of the attack on a US consulate in Benghazi, Libya in 2011.

"I thought the most telling statement is what he says about Benghazi - that it was the most politicized national security issue he's ever seen,"


http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...s-what-says-about-benghazi/?intcmp=latestnews

 

He also said in the video in the op that the Senate Intelligence Report was full of lies.