House Republicans "deeply troubled" by Rice

Nearly 100 House Republicans submitted a letter to President Obama today warning him against nominating U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice to succeed Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, accusing Rice of "having either willfully or incompetently misled the American public in the Benghazi affair."

In the letter, the 97 GOP congressmen, who do not hold confirmation power over presidential nominations, describe themselves as "deeply troubled" by Rice's potential nomination, explaining, "Though Ambassador Rice has been our Representative to the U.N., we believe her misleading statements over the days and weeks following the attack on our embassy in Libya...caused irreparable damage to her credibility both at home and around the world."

The signatories take issue with Rice's description of the attacks as a "spontaneous" protest that spun out of control, saying, "Only on September 19 - eight days after the attack - did the American people learn...that the intelligence services quickly considered the attack an act of terrorism and that al Qaeda may have played a role."

"In light of this troubling situation and the continued unanswered questions," the letter reads, "we strongly oppose any efforts to nominate Ambassador Susan Rice for the position of Secretary of State."

Rice's defenders, including the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., have pointed out that Rice's description was based on CIA-provided talking points, and that she should not be "pilloried" for voicing what were then the best assessments of the intelligence community.