EXCLUSIVE: Security at the State
Department's Benghazi compound was so dire that another contractor was
brought in to clean up the mess just two weeks before the 2012 terror
attack – and was later pressured to keep quiet by a government
bureaucrat under then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to
two men from the American security company.
Brad Owens and Jerry Torres, of
Torres Advanced Enterprise Solutions, say they faced pressure to stay
silent and get on the same page with the State Department with regard to
the security lapses that led to the deaths of four Americans.
They spoke exclusively with Fox News for “Tucker
Carlson Tonight,” revealing new information that undermines the State
Department's account of the 2012 terror attack in Benghazi, where
Islamic militants launched a 13-hour assault from Sept. 11-12 that
killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, foreign service officer Sean Smith
and former Navy SEALS Ty Woods and Glenn Doherty.
Torres Advanced Enterprise Solutions provides
security for U.S. embassy and consulate personnel around the world in
some of the most dangerous locations spanning Africa, the Middle East
and South America, according to the firm.
Jerry Torres remains haunted by the fact specific
bureaucrats and policies remain in the State Department after the
Benghazi attack despite the change in administrations. "A U.S.
ambassador is dead and nobody is held accountable for it. And three guys
… all died trying to defend him," said Torres, the company’s CEO and a
former Green Beret.
Asked if there was a specific effort by a senior
State Department contracting officer to silence them, Torres said,
"Absolutely, absolutely."
Owens, a former Army intelligence officer, echoed his
colleague, saying those “who made the poor choices that actually, I
would say, were more responsible for the Benghazi attacks than anyone
else, they're still in the same positions, making security choices for
our embassies overseas now."
In 2012, Owens was the American company’s point man
in Libya with extensive experience in the region. After the death of
Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi in the fall of 2011, Owens stressed to
Fox News it was well-known that Islamic radicals including Al Qaeda-tied
militias were pouring into the region and security “had deteriorated
considerably.”
Based on documents reviewed by Fox News, Torres
Advanced Enterprise Solutions bid on the Benghazi compound security
contract in the spring of 2012.
But the State Department awarded the deal to a U.K.-based operation called The Blue Mountain Group.
Owens, who had personally visited the Benghazi
compound to assess security, was shocked. "Blue Mountain U.K. is a
teeny, tiny, little security company registered in Wales that had never
had a diplomatic security contract, had never done any high threat
contracts anywhere else in the world that we've been able to find, much
less in high threat areas for the U.S. government. They had a few guys
on the ground," he said.
According to Torres, the Blue Mountain Group came in 4
percent lower than their bid – and they challenged the decision,
claiming the American company should have been preferred over the
foreign one.
Torres said State Department contracting officer Jan
Visintainer responded that the State Department had the “latitude to
apply” that preference or not.
And there was more: The Blue Mountain Group hired guards through another company who were not armed.
Problems soon arose. One month before the attack --
in August 2012, with The Blue Mountain Group still in charge of compound
security -- Ambassador Stevens and his team alerted the State
Department via diplomatic cable that radical Islamic groups were
everywhere and that the temporary mission compound could not withstand a
"coordinated attack." The classified cable was first
reported by Fox News.
By Aug. 31, 2012, the situation had deteriorated to the point that Owens and Torres said
the State Department asked them to intervene – as Owens put it, an "admission of the mistake of choosing the wrong company."
"They came back to us and said, ‘Can you guys come in and take over security?’ Owens said. “So we were ready.”
But Torres emphasized that time was against them, saying it would have taken two-to-three weeks to get set up.
Twelve days later, the ambassador was killed. Torres
learned of the attacks by watching television. He called the
circumstances leading up to the tragedy "bad decision-making from top to
bottom."
“There was nothing we could've done about it. If we'd had one month warning … who knows what might've happened,” Owens said.
In the chaotic days following that attack, the Obama
White House blamed the attacks on an anti-Islam video and demonstration
which was not accurate. As a former Green Beret, Torres was stunned:
"Coming from a military background, I would expect the administration to
tell the truth. So I bought into it for a minute. But I didn't believe
it in the back of my mind.” He said they later figured out the video was
not the culprit. The attack was a coordinated terrorist assault which
included a precision mortar strike on the CIA post in Benghazi.
But as the Obama administration and Clinton’s team
struggled to answer questions about the attacks, Visintainer apparently
took it one step further -- summoning Jerry Torres from overseas to
attend a meeting at her government office in Rosslyn, Va., in early
2013.
Torres took Fox News back to the Virginia office building where he recalled that day's events.
"[Visintainer] said that I and people from Torres
should not speak to the media, should not speak to any officials with
respect to the Benghazi program,” he said.
Torres said he was afraid for his company – and hasn’t spoken publicly until now.
"We had about 8,000 employees at the time. You know,
we just didn't need that level of damage because these guys, their
livelihood relies on the company,” he said. “I trust that our U.S.
government is going to follow chain of command, follow procedures,
follow protocols and do the right thing."
Another part of that conversation stuck out to
Torres. He said Visintainer told him “in her opinion, that guards should
not be armed at U.S. embassies. She just made that blanket statement. …
And she said that they weren't required in Benghazi. So I was kind of
confused about that. And she said that she would like my support in
saying that if that came up. And I looked at her. I just didn't
respond."
The State Department declined Fox News’ request to
make Visintainer available for an interview, or have her answer written
email questions.
The Blue Mountain Group did not immediately respond to questions from Fox News.
Torres and Owens said repercussions against their
company continue to this day – and that of the 20 security force
contracts they’ve bid on since that conversation, they’ve lost 18.
Torres and Owens are concerned another attack like
the one in Benghazi could happen again because the same State Department
employees responsible for the Benghazi contract remain in place and the
contracting rules are outdated.
"In 1990, Congress passed a law that required
contracts of this nature to go to the lowest bidder that's technically
acceptable," Owens explained. "Now, what that has created is a race to
the bottom, is what we call it. So basically, every company tries to cut
every corner they can for these contracts."
The men say they are hopeful that changes will come with the Trump administration’s promise to "drain the swamp."
"Let's just say there's been a change at management
at Department of State," Owens said. "I feel now that, given that the
politics has been taken out of the Benghazi situation, now that there's
no longer a candidate or anything related to it, a change of
administrations, that actually, we have an opportunity here to fix the
problems that made it happen."
On the fifth anniversary, Torres said he thinks about
the four families who lost a father, a brother or a son in the 2012
attack, and feels sorry "for not bringing this up earlier. For not
actually being there, on the ground and taking care of these guys."
Catherine Herridge is an award-winning Chief Intelligence
correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC) based in Washington, D.C. She
covers intelligence, the Justice Department and the Department of
Homeland Security. Herridge joined FNC in 1996 as a London-based
correspondent.
Pamela K. Browne is Senior Executive Producer at the FOX News
Channel (FNC) and is Director of Long-Form Series and Specials. Her
journalism has been recognized with several awards. Browne first joined
FOX in 1997 to launch the news magazine “Fox Files” and later, “War
Stories.”
Cyd Upson is a Senior Producer at FOX News.
