Clinton's Benghazi-related emails show attack was 'planned' not 'spontaneous'

The US State Department has released e-mails related to the 2012 Benghazi terror attack, which reveal that then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had issued orders planning for such an attack, though officials close to her said that this act of aggression was "spontaneous."

In total, 296 emails have been publically released in the first batch from Clinton's tenure as secretary of state, depicting that she was warned about dangerous security conditions in Benghazi, Libya, that killed a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans, Fox News reported.

The released emails show at least some of the details about the worsening security environment in Benghazi that were presented directly to her.

The emails to the 67-year-old former secretary of state were far from the only evidence of deteriorating security in Benghazi, as months before the attack, a small improvised explosive device was thrown over the wall of the diplomatic compound, and two months later, a bomb exploded near the main gate.