Oops, They Did It Again: While Attacking Clinton, House Republicans Out CIA Source

Yes, Republicans have released more secret information in their efforts to undermine 2016

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, according to Politico. House Benghazi Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy “accidentally” released the name of a CIA source. This is the same source Republicans are attacking Clinton over, claiming she jeopardized national security by using her private email server for an email with his name on it.

But it gets even better. It turns out this outing is no biggie, according to the CIA. And that’s bad news for Republicans because they cited this as a “prime example of her misusing her private email server to receive and send highly classified information.”

The credibility of the Republican-led Benghazi committee came under fresh attack Sunday after the CIA informed the panel that it does not view a 2011 email forwarded by then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as including any classified information. The committee chairman, Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., had cited Clinton’s handling of the March 18, 2011, email as a prime example of her misusing her private email server to receive and send highly classified information.
Josh Gerstein at Politico noticed that the Republicans had mistakenly outed the very source they were attacking Clinton for allegedly not being careful with:

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The email posted Sunday on the panel’s website included in one instance the name of Mousa Koussa, a former Libyan government spy chief, and foreign minister. The name appeared to have been redacted in several other instances but was included in a subject line of a forwarded email.

Republicans tried to excuse their breach by saying they released the email regarding the sources so the American people “could decide for themselves.”
Select Committee on Benghazi Chairman Trey Gowdy today released the following letter in response to yet another Democrat missive that seeks to distort the majority’s investigative effort. He also released the redacted email in question so the American people could decide for themselves regarding concerns about sources and methods. The committee will continue to protect sensitive information related to this email.

Of course, that explanation does not justify why he didn’t redact the sources name.

Which the Committee did this morning.

So it’s possible.

It’s not like Democrats didn’t warn Gowdy. On Sunday, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the Ranking Member of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, sent a letter to Chairman Trey Gowdy about the Republican claim that the email contained “some of the most protected information in our intelligence community, the release of which could jeopardize not only national security but human lives.”

Cummings wrote, “The problem with your accusation—as with so many others during this investigation—is that you failed to check your facts before you made it, and the CIA has now informed the Select Committee that you were wrong. I believe your accusations were irresponsible, and I believe you owe the Secretary an immediate apology.”

Oh, dear.

Gowdy countered on Sunday by saying that even if the CIA doesn’t care, he was gonna protect that source’s name! Gerstein pointed out in his Politico piece, “The CIA normally would treat the names of its alleged sources as confidential. However, Kousa’s contacts with U.S. intelligence have been publicly acknowledged for years.

Much ado about nothing, but we do know that Republicans are the last people who should be pointing fingers about leaks and security issues. Their Benghazi probes have resulted in more leaks than a busted pipe. Who can forget when House Republicans outed a CIA base?

The House Republican legacy as bumbling fools is intact and being rubbed into everyone’s face, just in case they don’t get it yet. Want to screw up the economy, ruin government and make buffoons of yourselves? You need a job in the House.

Democrats just released a damning report that shows there is no evidence of wrongdoing on Clinton’s part. Granted, it’s a Democratic report, but it’s based on evidence obtained from the Select Committee, and it corroborates previous findings in other Benghazi probes. Sigh.

Let us all recall that the House that Ryan built defunded security for consulates, even after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “warned that Republicans’ proposed cuts to her department would be “detrimental to America’s national security” — a charge Republicans rejected.