The key here is "may." They feel -- rightly -- that they may be prosecuted or otherwise punished for their truthful testimony, and do not want to offer the testimony until they have protection.

I don't know how that will happen. This Administration is punishing anyone who crosses them.

But if they do speak, they'll have a tale to tell.

According to the diplomats, what these whistleblowers will say will be at least as explosive as what we have already learned about the scandal, including details about what really transpired in Benghazi that are potentially devastating to both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

The former diplomats inform PJM the new revelations concentrate in two areas — what Ambassador Chris Stevens was actually doing in Benghazi and the pressure put on General Carter Ham, then in command of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and therefore responsible for Libya, not to act to protect jeopardized U.S. personnel.

Stevens’ mission in Benghazi, they will say, was to buy back Stinger missiles from al-Qaeda groups issued to them by the State Department, not by the CIA. Such a mission would usually be a CIA effort, but the intelligence agency had opposed the idea because of the high risk involved in arming “insurgents” with powerful weapons that endanger civilian aircraft.

And there's more. Guess who urged arming the "insurgents" with the Stingers, despite the warnings of their membership in Al Qaeda?

Via @dostoevskyghost

Update: I missed the most important part. Read Page 2. Holy shit.

Caution Flags: There are questions being raised about this story. The chief questions are "Why would Panetta call Ham's subordinate when he could just talk to Ham, right in the room with him" and "Why arm the insurgents with Stingers when we had air power committed to the effort?"

On the "Stingers" point, I honestly never thought they actually armed anyone with "Stingers." I assume they mean any kind of heavy rocket arm.

At any rate, while this all looks like Very Serious News, it has to be noted, at the very least, that this information is not on the record yet. It's just being whispered about, what so-and-so would say if he were asked, and had whistleblower protection.

I think the major problem that animates skeptics is that this article has a strong odor of Too Good To Be True. I didn't even see the stuff about the Petraeus stuff at the end; that has long been suspected by some, and this seems a little Too Good To Be True on that ground.

Posted by: Ace at 01:28 PM | Comments (424)
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Ummm...

This entire post has to be retracted: It dates from May 21st... of last year.

So, it's true. But it's not. This information was released a year ago.

Darn. This is terribly embarrassing.

Oh, I'll just throw a "FLASHBACK" into the headline; that will fix everything.

The Smoking Gun highlighted this bit of eyewitness testimony – released to the public by the Sanford police only a few days ago, but known to the prosecution when Zimmerman was charged – tendered to the police only 90 minutes after the shooting occurred, by a resident of Zimmerman’s community who heard the altercation and decided to investigate:

The man recalled seeing “a black male, wearing a dark colored ‘hoodie’ on top of a white or Hispanic male who was yelling for help.” The black male, he added, “was mounted on the white or Hispanic male and throwing punches ‘MMA (mixed martial arts) style.’”

The witness–who was in his living room and about 30 feet away from the confrontation– said he called out to the two men that he was dialing 911. “He then heard a ‘pop,’” police reported, and saw the black male “laid out on the grass.”

I remind you: This evidence was just released to the defendant a few days ago.*

* Or a year ago. Either/or.

You know, I actually did check the date, to make sure it was New News. I got as far as "May 21st." I really should have finished up reading the entire date.

Posted by: Ace at 02:56 PM | Comments (191)
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Question: What spin will he offer them -- in order that they may ventriloquize his own arguments and spin -- that he can't or won't offer from his own mouth?

Consider: Obama's stated position is that the IRS scandal is "outrageous" and that he's "outraged" by it.

Now if Ezra Klein et al. begin peddling a line that "It's really not that bad" and "It's all overblown" and "It's just a partisan witch-hunt," doesn't this mean Obama's public declarations of outrage are lies?

more...

Posted by: Ace at 12:28 PM | Comments (218)
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Precognition. more...

Posted by: JohnE. at 11:55 AM | Comments (194)
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From the LA Times.

Oh, don't bother looking for this huge scoop on their website. They have buried it, and I do mean buried, at the bottom, well under "Sports," in a little "Politics" headline scroll.

Since they have no interest in advertising their scoop I don't know why I bother citing them at all. But I suppose I must maintain appearances, even if the LATimes no longer feels required to.

Lois Lerner, the head of the exempt organizations division of the IRS, won’t answer questions about what she knew about the improper screening – or why she didn’t reveal it to Congress, according to a letter from her defense lawyer, William W. Taylor 3rd.

Shit Status Update: Real. via jgs. more...

Posted by: Ace at 11:29 AM | Comments (313)
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Reject these voices. And, maybe, audit them. more...

Posted by: Ace at 11:00 AM | Comments (130)
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Uh huh.

And I'm 14th level Druid!!!! I cast Fire Seeds !!!

Pew-pew! Pew-pew-pew!

(Safe link to Daily Caller.)

* Corrected! It's not Markos. It's some other Shemp who has the ability to post on his blog.

Sorry, I thought it was Markos.

Though, now that I think about it, that makes zero sense, eh?

Posted by: Ace at 10:37 AM | Comments (208)
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Jay Carney likens HHS questions to Birth Certificate questions.

It's an interesting gambit, because it's so childish. He's essentially trying to tell the kids that they can only be Cool Kids if they agree to dismiss questions Carney doesn't like as silly.

If you ask about HHS, you're not a Cool Kid. You're a Weird Kid.

The gambit has worked in the past but does not appear to be working any longer.

Carney looks, dare I say, Ziegleresque in attempting to pretend a laugh at the question.

more...

Posted by: Ace at 01:00 PM | Comments (163)
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Barbecue is a big deal in this country. And nothing suggests good barbecue like a beautiful rack of New Jersey pork ribs.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 01:50 PM | Comments (482)
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A little bit of heat in today's Festival of Lies.

Posted by: Ace at 09:57 AM | Comments (257)
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