From Newsweek: Benghazi biopsy: A comprehensive guide to one of America's worst political outrages
EDITOR'S NOTE: Right on cue, President Trump dredged up Benghazi from the right-wing fever swamps when he congratulating himself for his handling of the the attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. Because the Republicans keep pushing this phony conspiracy theory, we thought this 2015 Newsweek story is worth another look.
By KURT EICHENWALD
Moussa Koussa.
That is the name of the "classified source" in an old email from Hillary Clinton released last week by Republicans purportedly investigating the 2012 attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Under the instructions of the Benghazi committee's chairman, Republican Representative Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, Koussa's name was blacked-out on the publicly issued email, as Republicans proclaimed revealing his identity would compromise national security. The media ran with it, saying Clinton had sent classified information through her personal email account.
But the CIA never said the name was secret. Nor did the Defense Intelligence Agency or the FBI. No, Koussa's role as an intelligence source is about as classified as this column. He is the former intelligence chief and foreign minister of Libya. In 2011, he fled that country for Great Britain, where he provided boodles of information to MI6 and the CIA. Documents released long ago show Koussa's cooperation. Government officials have openly discussed it. His name appears in newspapers with casual discussions about his assistance. Sanctions by the British and the Americans against Koussa were lifted because of his help, and he moved to Qatar. All of that is publicly known.