If the Benghazi hearing was not political and not an attempt to undermine Hillary Clinton, why would a Fox News host be looking for a smoking gun?

During a break in the Benghazi hearing, Carlson did her part for the anti-Hillary cause by saying it was “shocking” that Ambassador Chris Stevens didn’t have Hillary Clinton’s personal email address. “I mean that was shocking,” Carlson repeated, “based on the fact that she knew him well and he was in a troubled time in Libya.”

I guess it never occurred to Carlson that maybe they talked by phone, not email.

Then, before she closed her interview with Baier, Carlson asked, “So far, from what you’ve heard, is there any smoking gun?”

According to Rep. Trey Gowdy, the Republican committee chair, the hearing is “not a prosecution” and not aimed at Mrs. Clinton. So why didn’t Carlson ask something like, “Are we any closer to finding out why the four Americans died or what might have been done to save them?” I think we know why.

In short, there is no smoking gun. But obviously, Baier didn’t want to come right out and say that – and possibly suggest there was no point to the hearing - so he gave a long answer that meant to suggest something almost as good as had been uncovered:

BAIER: Well, I think the Jim Jordan email was new and it does present a problem for the set up, the tick-tock of what they’ve tried to explain. And I also think that the fact that she, that Hillary Clinton said that she did not know of any incoming threats prior to the Benghazi attack really will be challenged. There’ll be a lot of fact checking after this and there’ll be a lot of accusations that this is all a political witch hunt. I think this afternoon, you may see some more things that are new, that open people’s eyes to some different things. But as far as a smoking gun, I don’t think you’re ever going to get that out of this hearing, Gretchen.

Again, Baier tellingly couched the supposedly new information in terms of how it may affect Clinton, not in terms of what light may or may not have been shed on the deaths of the four Americans. And even so, there's nothing there.

Watch Baier pretend there is a there there, from the October 22 The Real Story.

Crossposted from NewsHounds, where we watch FOX so you don't have to!