CNN reported a new bombshell in the ongoing Libya fiasco on Monday night, while the networks had already moved on from the story. CNN's Erin Burnett disclosed that "key intelligence" was left out of the post-Libya narrative given to the American public. The networks made no mention of Libya all day Monday and through Tuesday morning after being late to new developments in the story.
"[T]here were a decision made as to some of these key things that obviously are now considered to be crucial to this – essential to this attack were left out of the briefing points given to Congress and given to the American people," Burnett reported.
Burnett added that an "intelligence expert" told CNN that "the key information left out of the talking points can only mean the administration is covering something up." This story is a new development on the previous narrative, where the Obama administration's initial explanation for the attacks did not match up with U.S. intelligence which had , and evolved since the attacks.
However, CNN reported with certainty that not only were the attacks planned, but this information was withheld from the ensuing administration narrative. The networks did not report this story on Tuesday morning.
The networks were also late to the prior story that U.S. intelligence had "strong indications" within a day after the embassy attacks that they were planned and carried out by al Qaeda affiliates. The Daily Beast report on U.S. intelligence aired early Wednesday morning on September 26, yet it took until Thursday night for ABC to report it. As of Friday morning, NBC and CBS had not reported it.
On Friday night, NBC aired two full stories on the matter. Both NBC and CBS reported on the story on Saturday and all three networks mentioned Libya on Sunday, with NBC's David Gregory talking about it in detail with Obama adviser David Plouffe.