WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - The White House has also refused to say when they met with the National Security Council following the terror attack. 
"We decline to comment," said White House National Security staff aide Debbie Bird. 

The emails are important because they suggest the White House knew of the true nature of the attacks from the start, yet inexplicably spent the next three weeks telling the public they were spontaneous protests that turned violent. 

The White House has suggested they were overwhelmed with information following the attacks. Jay Carney told reporters this morning, ""There were emails about all sorts of information that was becoming available in the aftermath of the attack. The email you're referring to was an open-source, unclassified email referring to an assertion made on a social media site that everyone in this room had access to and knew about instantaneously. There was a variety of information coming in."

"The whole point of an intelligence community and what they do is to assess strands of information and make judgments about what happened and who was responsible," Carney added.  "I would refer you to what we've already said about, and what the DNI has already said about, the initial assessments of the intelligence community, and the fact that throughout this process, I and others made very clear that our preliminary assessments were preliminary, that an investigation was underway, and that as more facts became available, we would make the American people aware of them."

Carney insisted, "This was an open-source, unclassified email about a posting on a Facebook site. I would also note I think that within a few hours, that organization itself claimed that it had not been responsible. Neither should be taken as fact. That's why there's an investigation underway."

The emails were sent by the State Department to several government officials including members of the President's staff, so there's no reason why he should have been unaware of them. 

Ultimately, if the President and his staff cannot assess a dynamic situation and respond appropriately, even after two to three weeks following, then questions must be raised about the competency and functionality of the current administration. 

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