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Benghazi e-mails show White House image control -Judicial Watch

WASHINGTON - Conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch released e-mails from U.S. officials on Tuesday that it said showed the White House was concerned primarily with protecting President Obama's image after an attack that killed Americans in Libya.

WASHINGTON - Conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch released e-mails from U.S. officials on Tuesday that it said showed the White House was concerned primarily with protecting President Obama's image after an attack that killed Americans in Libya.

The attack by militants on Sept. 11, 2012, killed four Americans at the U.S. mission in Benghazi, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

Days later, then U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice appeared on television news shows and said the violence resulted from a spontaneous crowd reacting to an inflammatory video rather than the work of Islamic militants.

When Rice's account proved incorrect, Republican lawmakers accused her of trying to protect Obama during his reelection campaign, which the White House disputed. Rice is now Obama's national security adviser.

Judicial Watch sought documents related to the Benghazi attacks through the Freedom of Information Act and obtained them earlier this month. On Tuesday, it pointed to an e-mail from Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, which discussed preparations for Rice's appearances on the shows.

The e-mail lists one goal as being "to underscore that these protests are rooted in an Internet video, and not a broader failure of policy."

It also emphasizes Obama's leadership and stresses his statesmanlike qualities.

"Now we know the Obama White House's chief concern about the Benghazi attack was making sure that President Obama looked good," Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said in a statement on the group's website.