The Benghazi response email: what the September 2012 message says
An email sent during the September 11, 2012 attack in Benghazi records discussions between Defense Department and State Department officials about a possible military response. Jeremy Bash, then chief of staff to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, sent the message at 7:19 p.m. Eastern time.
Judicial Watch released a redacted copy on December 8, 2015. The message was addressed to Jacob Sullivan, Wendy Sherman and Thomas Nides at the State Department.
Preparation and coordination
Bash said military leaders had identified forces that could move to Benghazi and were preparing them. He also described a prospective request for State Department help in obtaining host-nation approval, conditional on agreement by senior officials to deploy the elements.
The email records that stage of planning. It does not contain a reply from Hillary Clinton, an order from her refusing assistance, or a record of troops arriving at the attack site.
The wider response
In his February 7, 2013 statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Panetta described the military response and the potential threats to other U.S. posts in the region. He also discussed the timing constraints facing the response.
The message and the testimony address different parts of that sequence: preparations, coordination and the ability to reach the scene. An email describing available options cannot, on its own, establish that a particular official prevented a deployment or that an intervention would have changed the outcome.