Rep. Trey Gowdy: NY Times Report on Benghazi Protects Hillary

Rep. Trey Gowdy says a New York Times article that concluded al-Qaida was not involved in last year's Benghazi attacks never mentioned then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, but Gowdy had no problem quoting her to make a point of his own.

"First of all, I want to congratulate The New York Times. It only took 15 months for them to figure out how to spell Benghazi," Gowdy, R-S.C., said Monday on Fox News Channel's "On the Record With Greta Van Susteren."

"So, in another 15 months, maybe their reporting will actually catch up with the truth," Gowdy said.

The Times concluded there was no evidence that al-Qaida was involved in the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on the U.S diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. It also said the attacks were not meticulously planned, as House Intelligence Committee members have said, but was a reaction to an anti-Muslim video produced in the United States.

"Whether it was al-Qaida or a subsidiary or a holding company or a limited partnership, to quote Hillary Clinton, 'What difference does it make?'" Gowdy told Fox News. "Who cares whether it was al-Qaida proper or a subsidiary? Four Americans are dead, and it wasn't a spontaneous reaction to a video. It was planned."

Intelligence Committee members Reps. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., both agreed on "Fox News Sunday" that al-Qaida was in some way involved and that there was planning.

People should believe Rogers, who is a former FBI agent, and Schiff, who is a former federal prosecutor, over The New York Times, Gowdy told guest host Dana Perino. Both men have dedicated their professional lives to following evidence wherever it leads, he said.

Gowdy also took issue with the assertion that the anti-Muslim video caused the attack that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. The video in question was translated into Arabic in early September 2012, Gowdy said, just days before the fatal attack.

That couldn't explain a prior attack on the U.S. consulate or the attempted assassination of the British ambassador or attacks on the International Red Cross in Benghazi, he said.

"I thought we had no business being in Benghazi. We were the last flag flying in Benghazi," Gowdy said. "But that begs a bigger question: Why were we there? Why was Chris Stevens in Benghazi that night?"

Gowdy didn't explain whether he had any suspicions, but Sen. Rand Paul and others have suggested Stevens was in Libya because the CIA was using the area to run guns to Syrian rebels.

Gowdy did make clear that he suspects The Times published the article to bolster the expected presidential candidacy of Hillary Clinton in 2016. Clinton, as secretary of state, came under fire after Benghazi for reportedly ignoring requests from Stevens for additional security.

"I've read this New York Times article, Dana, six times," Gowdy told Perino. "I want you to read it six times and tell me if you can tell who the secretary of state was when Benghazi happened."