Fact Check

Fox News Said the Benghazi Probe Was a Hoax

A slanted "news" site used a brief Fox News report to make a leap regarding the Benghazi investigation.

Published Oct. 28, 2016

 (Fox News)
Image Via Fox News
Claim:
Fox News admitted the investigation into the Benghazi deaths was a "complete hoax."

On 24 October 2016, the ill-named Bipartisan Report web site published a story announcing that Fox News had called the investigation into the 2012 fatal attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, a "complete hoax":

Current Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton’s alleged wrongdoings have been all over the media. From her use of a private email server, to the Benghazi attacks, Clinton has made national news with headlines proclaiming she can’t be trusted, is a criminal, and needs to drop out of the race. Though there may be some truth behind the reports, even Fox News themselves have reported the Benghazi scandal is a hoax.

After recapping the events that led to the death of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other men, the story then pasted a brief report by Fox News host Shepard Smith, saying in part:

After a two-year, $7 million investigation the eighth investigation to date, the authors of the report make no new accusations and provide no new evidence of wrongdoing against the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. But the report does blame the Obama administration, the CIA, and the U.S. military for responding too slowly to the attack.

What the Bipartisan Report story did not say was that Smith's report was from 28 June 2016. The Fox News Channel's web site does not contain clips from that episode, but it can be viewed here.

At no point during the report did Smith say anything painting the investigation as being the "hoax" described in the headline. It should be noted that the same site retracted an August 2016 story asserting that Melania Trump, who is married to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, was once a sex worker.

Arturo Garcia is a former writer for Snopes.