'60 MINUTES' Airs Apology on Benghazi

Lara Logan was scheduled to deliver a report on Sunday’s “60 Minutes” about disabled veterans who climb mountains. Instead, she appeared in front of the newsmagazine’s trademark black backdrop and issued an apology. 

Ms. Logan said that Dylan Davies, one of the main sources for a two-week-old piece about the attack on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, had misled the program’s staff when he gave an account of rushing to the compound the night the attack took place. “It was a mistake to include him in our report. For that, we are very sorry,” Ms. Logan said.

Simple web search would have saved humiliation

Now discredited Benghazi whistleblower Dylan Davies scored a book deal and interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes,” even though evidence has been out in the open for over a year that his story conflicted with claims he made in both the book and interview. 

On Friday, “60 Minutes” correspondent Lara Logan apologized and said the network was “wrong” for airing a report based in large part on claims made by Davies, a private contractor at the Blue Mountain Group that provided security at the Benghazi compound that was overrun by Islamist militants on Sept. 11, 2012. 

Davies gave a newsmaking interview to “60 Minutes” in which he claimed to have recounted his attempt to defend the U.S. compound. He criticized the government for not doing enough to prevent the attack despite what he said were early warning signs. 

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.