Al Qaeda operatives in Libya had planned the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi at least 10 days before terrorists claimed four American lives, internal documents show.

Top defense leaders knew the extremist group had claimed responsibility for the attack, which came on the eleventh anniversary of 9/11, within one day of the Benghazi raid, according to records obtained by the right-leaning nonprofit Judicial Watch.

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