Dozen House Women Slam Criticism of Rice Over Benghazi

In unusually personal terms, the Democratic women lashed out at Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham who, earlier, called Rice unqualified and untrustworthy and promised to scuttle her nomination if President Barack Obama nominates her to succeed Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

“All of the things they have disliked about things that have gone on in the administration, they have never called a male unqualified, not bright, not trustworthy,” said Rep. Marcia Fudge, the next chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus. “There is a clear sexism and racism that goes with these comments being made by unfortunately Sen. McCain and others.”

Election Bitterness

At a Capitol Hill news conference on Friday, the lawmakers, the majority of them African American like Rice, suggested that the Republicans are bitter about Obama's re-election and taking it out on the U.N.
ambassador.

“To batter this woman because they don't feel they have the ability to batter President Obama is something we the women are not going to stand by and watch,” said Rep. Gwen Moore. “Their feckless and reckless speculation is unworthy of their offices as senators.”

For weeks, the criticism of Rice has focused on her comments about the Libya attack. The lawmakers' contention that the ambassador's race and sex are factors come just over a week after the Nov. 6 election in which women and minorities heavily favored Obama and Democrats.

The Democratic women directed particular ire against McCain, who said Rice was “not being very bright” in her comments. The women pointed out that Rice was a Rhodes scholar who graduated tops in her Stanford University class, whereas McCain was in the bottom of his class at the U.S. Naval Academy.

In a separate appearance after a briefing on Libya, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the growing criticism of Rice “is almost as if the attempt is to assassinate her character.”

At issue are Rice's statements in a series of television interviews five days after the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. Republicans insist that she should have labeled the incident an act of terrorism rather than cite a protest over an anti-Muslim video that had roiled cities in the Middle East.

‘Best Assessment’

Rice said at the time she was providing the “best information and the best assessment we have today.”

CIA acting director Mike Morell has told congressional committees that Rice was relying on an initial intelligence assessment that eventually proved incorrect.

Former CIA Director David Petraeus told congressional committees Friday that Rice's comments “reflected the best intelligence at the time that could be released publicly,” according to Rep. Adam Schiff, a lawmaker who attended the session.

The female House members argued that Rice would have no motivation to mislead the American people.

They also contrasted McCain and Graham's criticism with their defense of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who had warned of weapons of mass destruction in pressing for war in Iraq that killed more than 4,400 Americans. No weapons of mass destruction were found.

“It's interesting to me that we're not discussing another Rice who went before all of the Sunday talk shows some years ago,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky.