Democrats now critical of Rice's Benghazi explanation, amid more damaging evidence

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Congressional Democrats on Sunday distanced themselves from the Obama administration’s explanation of the Benghazi, Libya, attacks in the immediate aftermath of the fatal strikes, amid mounting evidence the information was revised to intentionally mislead Americans.

The original explanation of the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on the U.S. outpost in Benghazi, Libya, were written by CIA officials, then revised by State Department and White House officials, according to news reports and witness testimony made available to Fox News.

Removed from the CIA's so-called talking points were references to “Islamic extremists” and Al Qaeda in Libya. And five days later, Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, made the Sunday talk show rounds to say the attacks were, in fact, “demonstrations” sparked by protests in Egypt over an anti-Islamic video on YouTube.

However, the video is never mentioned in the numerous talking-points drafts, according to a Weekly Standard story last week, based in part on a 43-page House report and records of official emails.

“Well, it was scrubbed,” Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Steve Lynch told “Fox News Sunday.” “It was totally inaccurate. There's no excuse for that. It was false information.  And what they try to do is harmonize what happened in Benghazi with what happened everywhere else across the Middle East.”

Lynch also acknowledged the talking points were likely revised to reflect President Obama’s decry – with his re-election bid in the balance -- that “Al Qaeda is on the run.”

Maryland Democratic Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, also acknowledged Sunday the facts as told by Rice were wrong.

“At the time, as it turns out” the information was incorrect, he said on CBS’ “Face the Nation”

Ruppersberger, who was briefed by the CIA about the attacks in immediate aftermath, asked agency officials what congressional leaders could tell the public, according to The Weekly Standard story.

On Sunday, he also said he welcomes a House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee hearing this week in which Greg Hicks, the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Libya at the time of attacks, is expected to say Rice said the attacks didn’t appear to be “pre-meditated or pre-planned,” despite having information suggesting they were.

“That's what an investigation is about,” Ruppersberger told CBS. “Let's get the facts.”

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Democrats now critical of Rice's Benghazi explanation, amid more damaging evidence

• 

Congressional Democrats on Sunday distanced themselves from the Obama administration’s explanation of the Benghazi, Libya, attacks in the immediate aftermath of the fatal strikes, amid mounting evidence that suggests the information was revised to intentionally mislead Americans.

The original explanation of the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on the U.S. outpost in Benghazi, Libya, was written by CIA officials, then revised by State Department and White House officials, according to news reports and witness testimony made available to Fox News.

Removed from the CIA's so-called talking points were references to “Islamic extremists” and Al Qaeda in Libya And five days later, Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, made the Sunday talk show rounds to say the attacks were, in fact, “demonstrations” sparked by protests in Egypt over an anti-Islamic video on YouTube.

However, the video is never mentioned in the numerous talking-points drafts, according to a Weekly Standard story last week, based in part on a 43-page House report and records of official emails.

“Well, it was scrubbed,” Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Steve Lynch told “Fox News Sunday.” “It was totally inaccurate. There's no excuse for that. It was false information.  And what they try to do is harmonize what happened in Benghazi with what happened everywhere else across the Middle East.”

Lynch also acknowledged the talking points were likely revised to reflect President Obama’s decry – with his re-election bid in the balance -- that “Al Qaeda is on the run.”

Maryland Democratic Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, also acknowledged Sunday the facts as told by Rice were wrong.

“At the time, as it turns out” the information was incorrect, he said on CBS’ “Face the Nation”

Ruppersberger, who was briefed by the CIA about the attacks in immediate aftermath, asked agency officials what congressional leaders could tell the public, according to The Weekly Standard story.

On Sunday, he also said he welcomes a House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee hearing this week in which Greg Hicks, the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Libya at the time of attacks, is expected to say Rice said the attacks didn’t appear to be “pre-meditated or pre-planned,” despite having information suggesting they were.

“That's what an investigation is about,” Ruppersberger told CBS. “Let's get the facts.”

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Scientists find evidence of cannibalism at Jamestown settlement

WASHINGTON –  Scientists said Wednesday that they have found the first solid archaeological evidence that some of the earliest American colonists at Jamestown, Va., survived harsh conditions by turning to cannibalism.

For years, there have been tales of the starving English settlers resorting to eating dogs, mice, snakes and shoe leather at Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America. There were also written accounts of settlers eating their own dead, but archaeologists had been skeptical of those stories.

But now, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and archaeologists from Jamestown are announcing the discovery of the bones of a 14-year-old girl that show clear signs that she was cannibalized. Evidence indicates clumsy chops to the body and head, and it appears the girl was already dead at the time.

Smithsonian forensic anthropologist Douglas Owsley said the human remains date back to a deadly winter known as the "starving time" in Jamestown from 1609 to 1610. Hundreds of colonists died during the period. Scientists have said the settlers likely arrived during the worst drought in 800 years, bringing a severe famine for the 6,000 people who lived at Jamestown between 1607 and 1625.

The historical record is chilling. Early Jamestown colony leader George Percy wrote of a "world of miseries," that included digging up corpses from their graves to eat when there was nothing else. "Nothing was spared to maintain life," he wrote.

In one case, a man killed, "salted," and began eating his pregnant wife. Both Percy and Capt. John Smith, the colony's most famous leader, documented the account in their writings. The man was later executed.

"One amongst the rest did kill his wife, powdered her, and had eaten part of her before it was known, for which he was executed, as he well deserved," Smith wrote. "Now whether she was better roasted, boiled or carbonado'd (barbecued), I know not, but of such a dish as powdered wife I never heard of."

Archaeologists at Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia were somewhat skeptical of the stories of cannibalism in the past because there was no solid proof, until now.

"Historians have questioned, well did it happen or not happen?" Owsley said. "And this is very convincing evidence that it did."

Owsley has been working with William Kelso, the chief archaeologist at Jamestown, since their first burial discovery in 1996.

The remains of the 14-year-old girl discovered in the summer of 2012 marks the fourth burial of human remains uncovered at Jamestown. Her remains were found in a cellar at the site that had been filled with trash, including bones of animals that had been consumed, according to archaeologists.

Owsley, who has also done forensic analysis for police investigations, analyzed the girl's remains and how the body had been dismembered, including chops to the front and back of the head. The girl was likely already dead at the time. There was a cultural stigma against killing someone for food, Owsley said.

But it was clear to him immediately that there were signs of cannibalism.

"It is the evidence found on those bones that put it within the context of this time period," he said. "This does represent a clear case of dismemberment of the body and removing of tissues for consumption."

It was the work of someone not skilled at butchering, Owsley said. There was a sense of desperation.

The bones show a bizarre attempt to open the skull. Animal brains and facial tissue would be considered accepted and desirable meat in the 17th century, Owsley said.

The human remains will be placed on display at Jamestown to explain the "starving time" and the horrid conditions early settlers faced. At the Smithsonian, curators will display a digital reconstruction of the girl's face to explain the discovery in an exhibit about life at Jamestown.

The Smithsonian and Jamestown archaeologists are also publishing their findings in a book but decided against waiting to announce the discovery through a peer-reviewed journal.

Owsley said archaeology is helping to fill in details from a time when few records were kept — details that won't likely be found in history books.

"It provides a more personal glimpse into the lives and events that these people experienced," he said. "When you're dealing with 17th century sites like Jamestown, I think it really enhances what we know about these people.

Jamestown Rediscovery Archaeological Project

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White House says it's still weighing response to evidence Syria used chemical weapons

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    White House: Military force is an option to deal with Syria

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    Do 'red line' declarations make sound foreign policy?

The White House said Friday that more evidence is necessary to confirm the Syrian government used chemical weapons against its people, but if that proves to be true, it would be a "game changer."

President Obama addressed the issue in the Oval Office, where he was meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah II, though he didn't commit to any action yet in Syria.

"I have been very clear publicly, but also privately, that for the Syrian government to utilize chemical weapons on its people crosses a line that will change my calculus on how the United States approaches these issues. This is not an on or off switch. This is an ongoing challenge that all of us have to be concerned about," he said. 

Much talk has been made of Obama's  suggestion that the use of deadly chemical agents could be the "red line" for the U.S.to intervene in the two-year-old Syrian war.

"I think that in many ways a line's been crossed when we see tens of thousands of innocent people killed by a regime, but the use of chemical weapons and the danger that is poses to the international community, to neighbors of Syria, the potential of chemical weapons to get into the hands of terrorists, all of those things add increased urgency to what is already a significant security problem and humanitarian problem in the region," Obama told reporters.

Earlier Friday, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters that the U.S. continues to investigate evidence that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons in its fight against rebels, but he resisted setting a timetable for possible action.

“It has been assessed by our intelligence community with varying degrees of confidence that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria, specifically the chemical agent sarin," Carney said. "Now we are working to establish credible and corroborated facts to build on this intelligence assessment in order to establish a definitive judgment as to whether or not the president's red line has been crossed.”

When pressed by reporters, Carney made it clear there is no projected plan.``I'm not going to set a timeline, because the facts need to be what drives this investigation, not a deadline,''

Meanwhile, two Syrian officials denied Friday that its government forces had used chemical weapons against opposition forces. A government source told the Associated Press that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s army  "did not and will not use chemical weapons even if it had them."

Sharif Shehadeh, a Syrian lawmaker,also said the Syrian army "can win the war with traditional weapons" and has no need for chemical weapons.

Carney said President Obama would consider several paths of action if it’s determined that Syria used chemical weapons.``He retains all options to respond to that, all options,'' Carney said. ``Often when people mention all options are on the table, everyone just talks about military force. It's important to remember that there are options available to a commander in chief in a situation like this that include but are not exclusive to that option.''

Top-ranking lawmakers on both sides of the aisle declared Thursday that the "red line" in Syria had been crossed, calling for "strong" U.S. and international intervention after administration officials revealed that the intelligence community thinks chemical weapons were used. 

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Senate intelligence committee, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., were among those urging swift action. 

McCain, who has long called for more involvement in Syria, voiced concern that the administration would use "caveats" to avoid acting on the new intelligence. He said America's enemies are paying "close attention" to whether the U.S. follows through, as the White House signaled it wanted to see more proof before responding to the new information. 

"I worry that the president and the administration will use these caveats as an excuse not to act right away or act at all," McCain told Fox News. "The president clearly stated that it was a red line and that it couldn't be crossed without the United States taking vigorous action." 

He called for the U.S. to help establish a no-fly zone and "safe zone" in Syria, as well as provide weapons to the "right people." 

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel first revealed the intelligence assessment, which was detailed in a letter to select members of Congress, while speaking to reporters on a visit to Abu Dhabi. The administration then released those letters, which said U.S. intelligence determined with varying degrees of confidence that "the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria, specifically the chemical agent sarin." 

Secretary of State John Kerry further confirmed that there were two documented instances of chemical weapons use. 

The White House, however, stressed that this was not enough to confirm how the nerve gas was released -- though acknowledged it is "very likely" to have originated with the regime of Bashar Assad -- and pressed the United Nations for a "comprehensive" investigation. The letter from the White House director of the Office of Legislative Affairs to leading members of the Senate Armed Services Committee said the assessment was based in part on "physiological samples." 

A White House official also urged caution, invoking the Iraq war as an example of why the administration should be absolutely certain before going forward. 

"Given our own history with intelligence assessments, including intelligence assessments related to WMD, it's very important that we are able to establish this with certainty and that we are able to provide information that is airtight ... to underpin all of our decision-making," the official said. "That is, I think, the threshold that is demanded given how serious this issue is." 

A senior U.S. defense official told Fox News the Defense Department has been preparing a wide range of contingency plans for military involvement in Syria for the past year. President Obama has seen the plans and is fully aware of those options.

The options, according to this official, range from establishing no-fly zones to creating humanitarian zones to launching strikes on chemical weapons sites, select regime leadership and other targets. The official emphasized that no decisions have been made about whether to further involve the U.S. military in Syria and that there are still many questions that need to be answered first. 

A United Nations spokesman said the chemical weapon findings reinforce the need for U.N. officials to "be given the requested swift and unfettered access to Syria that it needs to determine whether chemical weapons have indeed been used." 

McCain, speaking to Fox News, said in his view the red line "was crossed." 

Feinstein, an important voice on matters of intelligence and security, also said it is "clear" those lines have been crossed and "action must be taken to prevent larger scale use." 

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., reacting to the reports Thursday, said the "number one" goal should be to "secure the chemical weapons before they fall into the wrong hands." 

"I think the red line's been crossed and the question is, now what?" Graham said on Fox News. 

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., also said in a statement the assessment is "deeply troubling and, if correct, means that President Obama's red line has certainly been crossed." 

But Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., argued that it is not in the United States' "best interest" to go into Syria. "We cannot be absolutely sure about the extent to which Assad's forces have used chemical weapons, although we know they have them," he said in a statement. 

Asked if this crossed a "red line" for the U.S., Hagel likewise said they are still trying to assess. 

"It violates every convention of warfare," he said. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Evidence in Molly Bish murder investigation sent to Texas lab

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  Molly Bish, 16, of Warren, Mass., disappeared in June 2000 from a local pond where she worked as a lifeguard. Her remains were found three years later, but the case has never been solved.AP

Massachusetts authorities are sending evidence from the Molly Bish murder investigation to a Texas lab for forensic testing, the Telegram and Gazette reported.

Bish was 16 in 2000 and working as a lifeguard at Comins Pond in Warren when she disappeared. Investigators have said she was abducted and then killed. The murder remains unsolved.

Timothy J.  Connolly, a spokesman for District Attorney Joseph D. Early, declined to tell the Telegram what items would be sent to the Dallas lab for testing, but did say that some of the evidence gathered in connection with the investigation has been tested in the past.

Connolly said the testing is likely to be done more quickly at Dallas’ Orchid Cellmark than at the state police lab because of the workloads.

Last year, authorities searched the Florida trailer home of Rodney Stanger, a convicted killer possibly linked to Bish’s murder.

Investigators were looking for any clues that might implicate Stanger in the abduction and murder of Bish.

Stanger, 64, who was living in Southbridge, Mass., at the time of Bish's disappearance, abruptly moved to Summerfield, Fla., a few months after Bish was kidnapped from Comins Pond .

Stanger is currently serving a 25-year prison term in Florida for the 2008 stabbing death of his live-in girlfriend, Chrystal Morrison.

The search of Stanger's dilapidated trailer came after Morrison’s sister, Bonney Kiernan, traveled to Florida in June 2012 and uncovered possible evidence in the Bish case from inside the home.  

The items, which were seized by police, include a film showing a blond girl stripping then getting her neck snapped, according to local reports, and a photo of Stanger that bears a striking resemblance to sketches of a suspicious man seen hanging around the pond where Bish worked.

Molly’s sister, Heather Bish, says she's waiting for test results on cigarette butts, duct tape and other items, according to the Telegram.

FoxNews.com’s Cristina Corbin and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Click for more from the Telegram and Gazette. 

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Gun evidence links parolee killed in Texas shootout to Colorado prisons chief's murder

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. –  Gun evidence links a Colorado parolee fatally shot in Texas with the death of Colorado's corrections' chief, investigators said Monday.

The El Paso County sheriff's office said that "unique and often microscopic markings" found on shell casings in Texas and Colorado leads investigators to conclude that the gun Evan Ebel used to shoot at authorities in Texas was the same gun used to kill Tom Clements at his home on Tuesday.

It had been known that the casings found at both scenes were of the same caliber and brand but Monday's announcement was the first time Colorado investigators made a direct link between Ebel and Clements' death.

What remained unknown though was why Clements was killed when he answered his front door Tuesday night and whether Ebel acted alone.

"There are no answers at this time surrounding motive and gaining these answers could be a lengthy process for investigators," sheriff's spokesman Lt. Jeff Kramer said in statement.

The announcement came just hours after hundreds of people, including corrections officials and guards from as far away as Morocco, gathered for a memorial service to honor Clements.

The crowd at New Life Church included 39 current and former corrections' chiefs as well as guards from 14 states. A delegation of corrections officials from Morocco also attended along with dignitaries including Gov. John Hickenlooper and U.S. Attorney John Walsh.

Hickenlooper and his widow both spoke about Clements' strong belief in redemption. His family said he decided as a teenage to work in corrections after visiting his uncle in prison, and he worked to reduce the use of solitary confinement in Colorado prisons.

Standing with her two daughters, Lisa Clements said her husband of 28 years would want justice as well as forgiveness.

"We want everyone who hears Tom's story to know that he lived his life believing in redemption, in the ability of the human heart to be changed. He would want justice certainly but moreover he'd want forgiveness. Our family prays for the family of the man who took Tom's life and we will pray for forgiveness in our own hearts and our own peace," said Lisa Clements, a psychologist who oversees Colorado's state mental health institutes.

Hickenlooper, who hired Clements about two years ago, told mourners that Clements was both pragmatic and principled.

"He had common sense and he had courage," Hickenlooper said.

Authorities say the car Ebel had in Texas is also similar to one seen not far from Clements' home the night he was killed.

A federal law enforcement official said Ebel had been a member of the 211s, a white supremacist prison gang in Colorado. El Paso County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Jeff Kramer said Monday that investigators are trying to determine whether there was any gang involvement in the killing, but he stressed that's only one aspect of a broad investigation.

Denver police say Ebel is also a suspect in the March 17 slaying of pizza delivery man Nathan Leon.

Hickenlooper is a longtime friend of the suspect's father, attorney Jack Ebel, who testified two years ago before state lawmakers that solitary confinement was destroying his son's psyche.

Hickenlooper confirmed he mentioned the case to Clements as an example of why the prison system needed reform before the job was offered, but the governor said he did not mention Evan Ebel by name.

There was no indication that Hickenlooper's relationship with Jack Ebel played a role in the shooting. Hickenlooper said he did not having any role in Evan Ebel's parole in January.

Jack Ebel issued a statement offering condolences to all those who have suffered from his son's actions.

Clements, born in St. Louis, worked for 31 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections, both in prison and as a parole officer, before taking the top corrections' job in Colorado just over two years ago. He began a review of the state's solitary confinement system and eventually reduced the number of prisoners being held in solitary. He closed a new prison built specifically to hold such prisoners -- Colorado State Penitentiary II.

His work won praise from groups including the American Civil Liberties Union and the union representing prison workers, which called him a "leader who looked out for those he led."

Officials took additional security measures after Clements' death and placed the state prisons on lockdown Friday.

Following Clements' killing, corrections professionals said their jobs have grown more dangerous for themselves and their families because of the growing influence of prison gangs, their ability to communicate with affiliates on the outside through smuggled cellphones and the ease with which people can be found and tracked online.

Clements is at least the second head of a state prison system to be killed. The top administrator of the Oregon Department of Corrections, Michael Francke, was stabbed to death outside his office in 1989 in what prosecutors described as a bungled car burglary. A former state prison inmate was found guilty of aggravated murder in 1991 and sentenced to life in prison.

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Murder in Pretoria? OJ detective says 'Blade Runner' evidence is overwhelming

Attorneys for Oscar Pistorius, the so-called Blade Runner, are poking headline-grabbing holes in the forensic evidence arrayed against the South African double amputee, but none of it changes facts that show the Olympic sprinter killed his model girlfriend, said former LAPD investigator and author Mark Fuhrman.

The former lead detective in the Pistorius case is facing an attempted murder charge stemming from an on-duty incident, prosecutors may have been too quick to say steroids were found in the Pretoria mansion of the suspect and detectives missed a bullet lodged in the bathroom wall.

“The defense attorneys are doing what defense attorneys everywhere do.”

- Mark Fuhrman, author and former LAPD detective

“So what?” says Fuhrman, who as a detective had a major role in the O.J. Simpson case and then went on to write several books analyzing the evidence in various high-profile murders.

“The defense attorneys are doing what defense attorneys everywhere do,” Fuhrman said. “When you look at the facts, even omitting all the forensic evidence the police have produced, it’s crystal clear.

“Here is what he admits: ‘I shot my girlfriend.’ And he has to admit he fought with her in the past, because the police had been there previously. That’s really all you need to know here.”

Fuhrman dismissed the latest revelation that South African detective Hilton Botha is facing attempted murder charges in connection with a 2011 shooting incident. That case, which involved Botha and two other police officers who allegedly fired at a minibus they were trying to stop, was reopened 10 days before Pistorius’ girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp was killed, after new evidence surfaced. Botha was taken off the Blade Runner case on Thursday.

“That wasn’t a shock,” Fuhrman said. “Any street cop knows you will be sued or involved in some type of litigation throughout your career. If the detective was compromised in any way, how does that change the actions of the suspect on the night in question?”

Although Botha admitted under questioning that nothing at the crime scene was inconsistent with Pistorius’ explanation, Fuhrman said the evidence is a much better fit with the explanation that prosecutors have offered.

Steenkamp, 29, was in a bathroom when she was shot four times through the door. Defense attorneys  have sought to dispel the idea she was hiding from her enraged beau by noting her bladder was empty – suggesting she had gone to the room to use the toilet. Fuhrman scoffed at the explanation.

“I’ve got news for them: When you’re dead, your bowels and bladder relax,” he said.

Pistorius, 26, claims he awoke in the night and heard a noise in the bathroom and assumed it was an intruder, saying he felt a “sense of terror rushing over” him.

“He knew there were two people in the house, he lives there, and she’s over,” Fuhrman said. “He hears something in the bathroom, and he doesn’t think it’s his girlfriend? He has an extensive security system that apparently has not been set off, yet he assumes the person behind the bathroom door is a burglar?”

The defense has also disputed the “pre-meditated” aspect of the murder charge. But Fuhrman noted reports that a bloody cricket bat was found in the house, and Steenkamp had a blunt-force trauma wound to her head. The detective theorized that the pair fought, Pistorius bashed her over the head and she fled to the bathroom. If at that point, he went and got a gun and pursued her, pre-meditation applies.

“Pre-meditation can form in split seconds,” he said.

Botha may have made other errors at the crime scene, including missing a bullet that hit the toilet that was found by the defense's forensic team four days later. He also admitted on the stand that he did not wear protective clothing at the scene, which defense attorneys suggested could have contaminated evidence.

Botha said police found testosterone and needles in a bedroom dresser, but Pistorius’ attorney said it was a herbal remedy. It was not clear when the compound would be tested.

“Whether he was on steroids or not really has nothing to do with his defense, if he claims he thought he was shooting a burglar,” Fuhrman said.

Finally, defense attorneys attacked Botha’s assertion that the trajectory of the bullets showed Pistorius’ 9-mm. handgun was fired downward from a height differs with the suspect’s claim he was not wearing his prosthetics at the time. Once again, Fuhrman said the defense was grasping at straws.

“It doesn’t matter if he was on stumps or stilts,” Fuhrman said. “He already says he fired the shots.”

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