Fox News chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge reported that the Defense Department’s Africa Command (AFRICOM) sent a targeting memo early on September 14, 2012 naming four individuals with direct connections to al Qaeda’s affiliate in North Africa and seven connected with Ansar al-Sharia as suspects in the Benghazi terror attack.

The memo was sent three days before then-U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice claimed the attack was a spontaneous demonstration to a YouTube video, and almost a day before Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communication Ben Rhodes sent an e-mail blaming the video for the attack on the U.S. consulate.