U.S. intelligence releases heavily edited emails on Benghazi attack, American terror suspect

TYSONS CORNER, Va., Dec. 24 (UPI) -- The Office of the Director of National Intelligence chose Christmas Eve to release more than a dozen pages of new emails related to the terror attack on U.S. diplomats in Libya three years ago and an American-born militant killed a year earlier.

To accommodate a Freedom of Information Act request, the DNI issued 16 pages of additional emails that were sent among U.S. intelligence officials in 2011 and 2012.

However, the messages were heavily redacted to shield sensitive or classified information.

Most of the emails address the September 2012 terror attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, although little new information was disclosed in the sentences that weren't blacked out. One email included a risk assessment following the attack, which killed four Americans.

"I have attached the Benghazi Intelligence Review for your information," one email reads. "It represents an IC-coordinated summary of our assessment of the threat in advance of the attack on the Temporary Mission Facility and our assessment post-attack."

Some of the emails also cite various news reports about intelligence-related topics, such as the connection between a former Guantanamo prisoner and the Benghazi attack -- and an escape of 1,000 inmates from a prison there. One email said the news reports are for "situational awareness."

Another document, a 2011 memorandum, discussed a possible passport revocation for American-born al Qaeda terror suspect Anwar al-Awlaki, also known as Anwar Nasser a!-AuJaqi.

"The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) concurs with the proposal to revoke the U.S. passport of Anwar Nasser a!-AuJaqi," it said, responding to a proposal from State officials two weeks earlier.

The memo was sent by the DNI to State Department Executive Secretary Stephen D. Mull in February 2011. Seven months later, in September, the New Mexico-born al-Awlaki was killed in a U.S. military drone strike in Yemen.

Intelligence officials said al-Awlaki, 40, was a senior recruiter, motivator and logistics planner for al Qaeda.

Other documents from 2013 that address DNI administrative matters were also included in Thursday's release, which the office called a "proactive disclosure."

U.S. intelligence agencies in the past have released similar materials on or near major holidays to mitigate the harm of releasing potentially unflattering government information.