Republican questions about how and when changes were made to his administration's "talking points" about last September's attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, are a "sideshow," President Obama told reporters at the White House on Monday.
"There's no there, there," the president declared.
"What we have been clear about throughout," Obama insisted, is that "we were not clear who exactly had carried this out."
Four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya, died in the attack.
Obama spoke during a joint news conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron, in which they also took questions about:
-- The IRS's targeting of conservative groups, which Obama called "outrageous," if true.
-- The situation in Syria. Cameron told NPR earlier in the day that plans for peace talks involving the U.S. and Russia mark a "real breakthrough."
Minutes after the president's remarks about Benghazi and the questions Republicans have been raising, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, tweeted a link to a Wall Street Journal op-ed headlined "Benghazi Disinformation Points." That piece begins with this:
"Friday's revelation that the Obama Administration's talking points on Benghazi were revised a dozen times adds another reason not to trust the official story line. It also gives Congress new cause to keep digging."
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