Jennifer Rubin, John Sununu, and Sean Hannity Continue Reporting Benghazi Lie About ‘Real Time Video’
From that point forward, Hannity flogged away at the State Department for “watching” the attack unfold “real time,” repeating it almost every day as it spread to other corners of the conservative media. Wemple debunked the allegation in November, citing a State Department official’s denial that anyone at State “had the ability to watch either of the attacks in real time.” According to an administration official quoted in Wemple’s report, the Benghazi compound had closed-circuit video surveillance that could not be monitored from outside the facility.
From the October 15 edition of Hannity (via Nexis):
HANNITY: Also, this is the problem they have with their story. It’s falling apart because they said that this was spontaneous, a mob uprising, but we had somebody at the State Department watching in real time.
October 16 (via Nexis):
FORMER NEW HAMPSHIRE GOV. JOHN SUNUNU: The White House has to hear their embassy had a breech in security. I don’t know this it was a separate report to the president or just in his president’s daily brief. But I cannot imagine that that was not sent to the president.
HANNITY: Governor, they were watching this from the State Department in real time.
SUNUNU: Yes.
HANNITY: Yes. They knew that night. Libyan president told us the next day.
October 18 (via Nexis):
FOX NEWS HOST DANA PERINO: Not only that, but an American citizen for a probation violation about a video. They blamed him for deaths of four Americans. They blamed a video-maker that turns out not to be true, and turns out they knew it wasn’t true.
HANNITY: Wait a minute. There’s a 50-minute tape of this — what happened this night. It’s available. The State Department watched it in real time. I’ve confirmed tonight, I can say 100 percent that tape exists and a transcript of them is available.
As Wemple documented, Hannity is still repeating this false claim despite receiving “definitive, on-the-record refutation” from Secretary Clinton.