The recently released House Armed Services Committee report on Benghazi utilized a controversial book that was recalled by its publisher, WND has found.
The footnotes in the report cite “The Embassy House” book that landed the CBS News show “60 Minutes” in hot water after it uncritically aired an interview with the co-author, who at the time used the pseudonym Morgan Jones.
Questions were raised about the veracity of Jones’ statements, including his whereabouts during the attack, after it was revealed Jones gave conflicting information to the FBI and in an unsigned incident report.
The 31-page House report released Feb. 11 says that in addition to information provided by the military, the House committee “considered information gathered by other Congressional committees or appearing in the public domain.”
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The footnote to the statement cited “the since discredited book by ‘Morgan Jones’ and Damien Lewis, ‘The Embassy House: The Explosive Eyewitness Account of the Libyan Embassy Siege by the Soldier Who Was There.’”
Also cited in the same footnote was other public domain material, including a New York Times article and another Benghazi book titled “Under Fire.”
Jones’ book was not mentioned anywhere else in the report. It is unclear which aspects of the book were taken into consideration by the House Armed Services Committee.
While some may be quick to attempt to discredit the House investigation based on its admitted consideration of Jones’ book, others may see the move as vindicating some of the information contained in “The Embassy House.”
The book raises significant questions about the inadequate security at the Benghazi compound.
One of the main issues in the work is the State Department’s use of armed members of the February 17 Martyrs Brigade militia as a quick-reaction force stationed inside the U.S. Special Mission grounds instead of American forces.
The Brigade acted under the umbrella of the al-Qaida-linked Ansar al-Sharia terrorist group, which was implicated in the Benghazi attack.
“60 Minutes” reporter Lara Logan issued an on-air apology and took a leave of absence after reports surfaced that Jones, whose real name is said to be Dylan Davies, provided conflicting accounts of his whereabouts during the Benghazi attack.
Threshold Editions, a subsidiary of Simon & Schuster, recalled the book and recommended bookstores pull the work.
Davies was the manager of the unarmed Libyan guards that provided external security at the U.S. compound via the Blue Mountain Group private security contract firm.
The Washington Post reported details of a Blue Mountain Group incident report it claimed was submitted by Davies to Blue Mountain three days after the attack. The report differed from the story Davies told in his book and in his CBS interview.
The incident report has been widely cited in media as evidence Davies is not credible.
Davies told the Daily Beast he did not write the report and has never seen it. The report was not signed by anyone.
Over the weekend, sources in the FBI reportedly told CBS and other news agencies that Davies also gave them a version of events that differs significantly from his public descriptions.
The Blue Mountain incident report, written in the first person allegedly as told by Davies, stated he returned to his villa immediately after the attack. Davies writes in his book, however, he attempted to reach the Benghazi compound but couldn’t do so because of Ansar al-Sharia roadblocks.
The Blue Mountain report has Davies stating he learned of Ambassador Chris Stevens’ death from a Blue Mountain guard who had secretly gone to the hospital and had taken a photo of the ambassador’s body. Davies writes in his book, however, he was the guard who infiltrated the hospital and verified Stevens was dead.
With additional research by Joshua Klein.