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Reporters Mock State Department Spokesman For Benghazi Spin [VIDEO]

Alex Griswold Media Reporter
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At Friday afternoon’s State Department press conference, reporters openly mocked department spokesman Jeff Rathke as he tried to spin the United Nations document tying the terror group behind the Benghazi attacks to al-Qaida.

RATHKE: I think the document that the U.N. Security Council has released, it does not connect — these groups are associated with al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, but they are not arms of the core al-Qaida if you look at the report. So certainly we take these groups seriously, and that’s why we acted eleven months ago to designate them …

REPORTER No. 1: So they’re like a second-degree al-Qaida?

RATHKE: They are…

REPORTER No. 1: They’re the JV team?

RATHKE: They’ve been associated with al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb …

REPORTER No. 1: Which in itself is associated with al-Qaida core.

RATHKE: It’s an affiliate. But we don’t see them as being subordinate to or a subsidiary of AQIM.

REPORTER No. 2: Like at McDonald’s?

RATHKE: I don’t think I can put it in those terms.

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[h/t Washington Free Beacon]

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