Fired WH Official Claimed Benghazi Report 'Whitewash'

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by Tony Lee 23 Oct 2013, 5:04 PM PDT post a comment

The former national security staffer who was fired for insulting administration officials from an anonymous Twitter account suggested that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton faked her concussion to avoid giving Benghazi testimony last year and claimed that the Accountability Review Board's investigation of the matter was a "whitewash."

The Daily Beast revealed the identity of @NatSecWonk on Tuesday as 40-year-old Jofi Joseph, who was a "senior director of non-proliferation policy on the National Security Staff." National Security journalist Marc Ambinder reported at The Week that Joseph was also a "a former Senate staffer who worked in the non-proliferation shop at the State Department when Hillary Clinton was the secretary."
Though the Twitter account has since been deleted, Ambinder curated the tweets.
On December 15, 2012, Joseph tweeted that Clinton's concussion was "awfully convenient, eh, with Benghazi testimony next week, no":

@NatSecWonk 15 Dec Come on Republicans. Don't disappoint me. This Hillary "concussion" is awfully convenient, eh, with Benghazi testimony next week, no

On September 15, 2013, as Congress was about to hold hearings on Benghazi, he tweeted that though he believed Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, was "an ass," Issa was on to something "here with the @HillaryClinton whitewash of accountability for Benghazi."

@NatSecWonk 15 Sep @EricDKoch Look, Issa is an ass, but he's on to something here with the @HillaryClinton whitewash of accountability for Benghazi.

As Breitbart News reported, after four Americans were murdered in Benghazi by terrorists last September, Clinton reportedly fainted and was concussed, preventing her from giving testimony to Congress in December of 2012. Clinton later gave testimony to Congress in January 2013. President Barack Obama and Clinton had initially said a YouTube parody video about Muhammed was responsible for the attacks even though there was evidence indicating from the beginning that terrorists attacked the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. The Benghazi Accountability Review Board (ARB), which Clinton commissioned to investigate the matter, did not even interview Clinton during the investigation. Admiral Mike Mullen actually told Congress that Clinton even saw a draft of the ARB's final report before it went public. As Breitbart News reported, the ARB was convened to determine whether government officials "breached" their duties during the Benghazi scandal, yet, no State Department official has been fired because of the Benghazi scandal and the four officials cited in the ARB were not questioned and have since been reinstated to their respective posts. 
“It has been a privilege to serve in this administration and I deeply regret violating the trust and confidence placed in me,” Joseph told Politico on Tuesday. “What started out as an intended parody account of D.C. culture developed over time into a series of inappropriate and mean-spirited comments. I bear complete responsibility for this affair and I sincerely apologize to everyone I insulted.”