By Andrew P. Napolitano
The president's men trash the Constitution to pursue antagonists
Independent voices from the TWT Communities

The Obama administration found itself in the cross hairs of mounting Republican frustration Tuesday over national security policy, with particular focus on unanswered questions surrounding the Boston Marathon bombings last month and the terrorist attack last year on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
The Obama administration found itself in the cross hairs of mounting Republican frustration Tuesday over national security policy, with particular focus on unanswered questions surrounding the Boston Marathon bombings last month and the terrorist attack last year on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

The State Department sought Tuesday to discredit a media report that claimed the Obama administration has threatened CIA and State Department officials in an attempt to intimidate them from cooperating with lawmakers seeking information about the September 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya.

The White House said Thursday that military forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad probably used chemical weapons on a "small scale," reigniting the debate over what role the U.S. should play in trying to topple the regime.

Maine Sen. Angus King says the FBI is getting a bad rap on its investigation off the Boston bombings, saying it doesn't appear the agency mishandled an earlier inquiry of suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev after Russian officials warned he could be dangerous.

Federal investigators told Capitol Hill lawmakers Tuesday that the Boston Marathon bombing suspects appeared to work independently — getting their ideology and bomb-making skills online — and that the case revealed intelligence-sharing shortcomings.

The FBI did not know that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older Boston Marathon bombing suspect who was killed in a firefight last week, took a six-month trip to Russia because his name was misspelled, according to Sen. Lindsey Graham.

U.S. and Libyan authorities investigating the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi are being hamstrung by the Libyan government's lack of control over the eastern part of the country.

While Mrs. Feinstein said all of the committee's Democrats voted to confirm Mr. Brennan, neither she nor Mr. Chambliss were willing to identify the other Republicans who had voted "no."

On the eve of an expected Senate committee vote on President Obama's nominee for CIA director, three Republican senators Monday issued a list of unanswered questions about the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Three Republican senators issued a list of unanswered questions about the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, on Monday — the eve of a Senate committee vote on President Obama's nominee for CIA director.
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has scheduled a vote Tuesday on the nomination of White House counterterrorism adviser John O. Brennan to be CIA director, moving the embattled pick one step closer to confirmation by the full Senate.
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has postponed a vote on the nomination of White House terrorism adviser John O. Brennan to be CIA director after seeing emails that showed his role in drafting controversial "talking points" about the deadly Sept. 11 terrorist attack on a U.S. diplomatic post in Libya last year.

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has completed a review of contacts between the CIA and the filmmakers of "Zero Dark Thirty" — the movie about the killing of Osama bin Laden — but is continuing to probe what role harsh interrogation techniques played in the hunt for the al Qaeda leader.