27 November 2012 Last updated at 16:59 ET

A US diplomat hotly tipped to replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has admitted releasing incorrect information after September's attack on the American consulate in Libya.

UN Ambassador Susan Rice said there had been no attempt to mislead the public, but Republicans were unconvinced.

After meeting Ms Rice on Tuesday, senators said they were troubled.

The envoy said her initial line that the Benghazi attack appeared to have sprung from a protest had been wrong.

The 11 September assault on the US consulate triggered a major political row over who knew what and when.

Days afterwards, Ms Rice, 48, said in a series of TV interviews that it seemed to have developed out of protests over an anti-Islamic film.

'Disturbed'

(Disturbed? I agree you're "disturbed, Sen. McCain. IMO, you're far past your best before date.)
Later intelligence reports suggested it was possibly tied to al-Qaeda affiliates.

On Tuesday, Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Kelly Ayotte met privately with Ms Rice and acting CIA Director Michael Morell to discuss the attack.

After the meeting on Capitol Hill, Ms Rice said: "The talking points provided by the intelligence community, and the initial assessment upon which they were based, were incorrect in a key respect: there was no protest or demonstration in Benghazi.

"While we certainly wish that we had had perfect information just days after the terrorist attack, as is often the case the intelligence assessment has evolved."

But the Republicans said questions remained unanswered.

Sen McCain said: "We are significantly troubled by many of the answers that we got and some that we didn't get concerning evidence that was leading up to the attack."

Sen Graham said that he was "more disturbed now than I was before", adding that he would "absolutely" attempt to block any nomination of Ms Rice for secretary of state.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said on Tuesday there were "no unanswered questions" about Ms Rice's response to the Benghazi incident, accusing Republicans of being obsessed with it.

Republicans are demanding a joint committee investigate the attack, which left four Americans dead, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

Current Secretary of State Clinton is not expected to continue in the role for a second four-year term. The Obama administration would need the support of the Senate for any nomination to the post.

After winning re-election, President Barack Obama vigorously defended Ms Rice, calling Republican criticism of her "outrageous".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20519384#

Like feral dogs with a raw steak ~ ~ we know McCain is trying to regain some credibility ~ we know Graham [who apparently has "hinted" that this is payback for Dems defeating approval for the uber-hawk John Bolton] has been singled out for a primary opponent in the next election from the more extreme end of the GOP/TP ~ I don't know much of anything about Ayotte ~ but all 3 are scambling for any/some "scandal" to boost their own standing ~

Sooz

well of course it was in error. but the confession is meaningless.

While it may just be a convenient status to save Ms. Rice some embarrassment, the currently touted connection to wanting John Kerry, D-MA, to be made Secretary of State upon Ms. Clinton's abdication, I see a very clear and present urgent need to discredit Ms. Rice in any way possible.

As was discussed on today's news, if Ms. Rice were nominated and approved as the next Sec. of State, then John Kerry remains the D-Senator in MA. However, if the GOP is successful in discrediting Ms. Rice to where she cannot be approved, John Kerry's nomination and appointment to the post of Sec. of State WOULD just, as luck would have it, leave a vacancy in MA which the GOP would just love to fill with Scott Brown. Not so?

My opinion and interpretation of the statements being made by GOPers is that they are making much ado about nothing and truly trashing Ms. Rice in an effort to influence the balance of power in the Senate.

It is much like the White Water/Vince Foster/Drug shipments in Mina, AR, and tarring and feathering someone for performing their duties in a way that is normal procedure for any other Ambassador. For whatever reason she responded as she did to the events in Libya, they don't appear to have caused much of a stir until the discussion turned to who is going to be the next Sec. of State. And then, on the short list, was Rice, and Kerry. Well how nice that is for the GOP to have a second shot at getting Brown into the Senate representing MA.

They've (the GOP) have gone into rabid overkill on this one. Listening to them is like listening to the conversations in the rec room of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

Lindsey Graham (one of my two senators--the other being Jim DeMint) has become a disgrace, who, if all deserts were just, would be wearing net stockings and five inch heels on some sleazy street in Vegas, looking for "company."

Or the Dems are learning how to play the GOP con game and neither Kerry nor Rice are really on "the list". Instead, they are merely on "a list".
Keeps the GOP wringing hands wringing and the phony outrage raging, though.