Clinton emails reveal slain ambassador considered leaving Libya

By Marisa Schultz

May 22, 2015 | 2:07am

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Hillary Clinton (left) and Christopher Stevens Photo: Getty Images; Reuters

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WASHINGTON — Eighteen months before his murder in the 2012 Benghazi attack, US Ambassador Christopher Stevens was so worried about security in Libya that he was considering leaving the country, according to newly released Hillary Clinton emails.
An email sent to the then-secretary of state’s private account with “high” importance described the shelling and snipers surrounding Stevens, who was then serving as special envoy.
“The situation in [the Libyan town of] Ajdabiyah has worsened to the point where Stevens is considering departure from Benghazi,” said an April 10, 2011, email obtained Thursday by The New York Times.
“The envoy’s delegation is currently doing a phased checkout . . . He will monitor the situation to see if it deteriorates further, but no decision has been made about departure. He will wait 2-3 more hours, then revisit the decision on departure.”
Ultimately, Stevens stayed and became ambassador to Libya after the death of dictator Moammar Khadafy.
He and three other Americans were killed in an attack on the US Benghazi outpost Sept. 11, 2012.
The Times published about a third of the 850 pages of emails from Clinton’s private server that were turned over to a House committee investigating the Benghazi attack.
One member of the Benghazi committee questioned how Clinton could exchange information about Stevens’ whereabouts using her own account.
“It’s incredibly likely our capable adversaries had the ability to get at this information,” Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) told The Post. “Information about where US government officials are located when they are in dangerous places absolutely deserves all the protection that the American government can muster.”
Clinton’s choice to have these discussions outside the secured State Department email system “definitely increased risk,” Pompeo said.
Clinton turned over about 30,000 emails she kept on her personal server.
The emails leaked to The Times show Clinton was advised two days after the Benghazi attack that it was premeditated and not a spontaneous response to an anti-Muslim video as the Obama administration had contended.
Citing sensitive sources, trusted adviser Sidney Blumenthal emailed Clinton an intelligence assessment on Sept. 13 stating that the attacks “had been planned for approximately one month” and carried out by “well-trained, hardened killers” from Ansar al-Sharia, a Libyan terrorist group.