CNN exclusive: White House email contradicts Benghazi leaks

Updated 12:15 PM EDT, Tue May 14, 2013

CNN has obtained an email sent by a top aide to President Barack Obama, in which the aide discusses the Obama administration reaction to the attack on the U.S. posts in Benghazi, Libya. The actual email differs from how sources inaccurately quoted and paraphrased it in previous accounts to different media organizations.

The significance of the email seems to be that whomever leaked the inaccurate information earlier this month did so in a way that made it appear that the White House - specifically deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes - was more interested in the State Department's desire to remove mentions to specific terrorist groups and warnings about these groups so as to not bring criticism to the Department than Rhodes' email actually stated.