On December 18, in covering the aftermath of the official report on the
terrorist raid on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya which killed
four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, the Associated Press
reported in the first three paragraphs of its coverage that "Three
State Department officials resigned under pressure," identifying those
who had stepped down as "Eric Boswell, the assistant secretary of state
for diplomatic security, Charlene Lamb, the deputy assistant secretary
responsible for embassy security, and Raymond Maxwell, the deputy
assistant secretary of state who oversees the Maghreb nations of Libya,
Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco."
It wasn't until the fourth paragraph that readers who got that far --
clearly a tiny percentage compared to those who saw the headline ("State
Department security chief, 2 deputies, resign after damning Benghazi
attack report") or only heard headline-based reports on broadcast
outlets -- learned that "Some of the three may have the option of being
reassigned to other duties." In other words, they might not be losing
their jobs or even receive cuts in pay. At the New York Post
this morning, Josh Margolin is reporting that the three identified by
the AP plus one other person aren't being meaningfully punished in any
sense:
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