Newt Gingrich appeared on Greta van Susteren’s Fox News show Tuesday night, and related a rather astonishing rumor – which he was very clear is only scuttlebutt he’s heard – that “at least two networks have emails from the National security Adviser’s office telling a counterterrorism group to stand down.”
This group was “in real-time trying to mobilize marines and C-130s and the fighter aircraft, and they were told explicitly by the White House stand down and do nothing.” Gingrich felt that these emails, along with new revelations about “corruption and extraordinary waste” in Obama’s “green energy” boondoggles, could become a powerful October surprise for the President. He also related some anecdotal evidence that even though the mainstream media has been trying very hard to ignore the Benghazi story, it’s still very much on the minds of battleground-state voters. (Video of the exchange has been posted at the Daily Caller.)
Gingrich has very good sources, so the rumors he’s relating are more than just idle chit-chat. And it’s not his fault that we’re reduced to speculation, as we wait for media organizations to pry tidbits of information from reluctant military and intelligence sources. This is exactly why it’s so important for the President to honestly and swiftly address the nation about incidents like the Benghazi attack, instead of hiding behind Obama’s evasions, cover-ups, stonewalls, modified limited hangouts, and false narratives.
It should also be noted that Newt Gingrich is particularly good at smacking liberal media organizations around; there are few illusions between the former Speaker and his adversaries in the press. He might well have decided to discuss these rumored emails to force the hands of network news bureaus that would rather sit on them until after the election – a decision that would now cost them even more credibility.
