Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the documents did not tell the whole story, describing conclusions drawn from the one document as "cherry picking."

"Posting something on Facebook is not in and of itself evidence, and I think it just underscores how fluid the reporting was at the time and continued for some time to be," Clinton said.

Moreover, intelligence officials do not believe Ansar al-Sharia is solely responsible with indications now that some of the attackers were associated with al Qaeda in Iraq, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and an Egyptian jihad network.

A spokesman for Ansar al-Sharia denied the group was responsible the day after the assault.