And the intimidation isn't coming from Republicans investigating what the White House insists is a "phony" scandal.

CNN, citing unnamed sources, reports there were more Americans on the ground in Benghazi the night terrorists attacked a U.S. facility there than previously acknowledged by the government or reported: 35 Americans in all, with "as many as seven wounded, some seriously."(Note: The previous sentence was modified at 11:49 a.m. to add information from the CNN report; the additional information is in bold. The rest of the original post follows.)

And the CIA is going to great lengths to ensure its employees are not speaking to the press or Congress about what happened before, during and after the terror attack in Benghazi that claimed the lives of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans last September. Here's the gist of the CNN report:

"Since January, some CIA operatives involved in the agency's missions in Libya, have been subjected to frequent, even monthly polygraph examinations, according to a source with deep inside knowledge of the agency's workings.

"The goal of the questioning, according to sources, is to find out if anyone is talking to the media or Congress.

"It is being described as pure intimidation, with the threat that any unauthorized CIA employee who leaks information could face the end of his or her career.

"In exclusive communications obtained by CNN, one insider writes, 'You don't jeopardize yourself, you jeopardize your family as well.'

"Another says, 'You have no idea the amount of pressure being brought to bear on anyone with knowledge of this operation.'

" 'Agency employees typically are polygraphed every three to four years. Never more than that,' said former CIA operative and CNN analyst Robert Baer.

"In other words, the rate of the kind of polygraphs alleged by sources is rare."

Now, it is well-known the Obama administration has taken a much harder line than its predecessors toward leakers of even unclassified information, even from such non-security-related agencies as the Department of Education and the Peace Corps. But so far as we know, Peace Corps volunteers aren't being warned about jeopardizing their families if they talk out of school. This particular anti-leak effort seems to be of a much different nature.

On the other hand, I suppose it is in keeping with the White House's characterization of the Benghazi investigation as a "phony" concern that U.S. officials reportedly are not even seeking one of the leaders of the group that's been blamed for killing those Americans. That's according to another report by CNN, which recently interviewed Ahmed Abu Khattala -- whom, the network reported, "Libyan and U.S. officials have described as the Benghazi leader of the al Qaeda-affiliated militia group Ansar al-Sharia -- one of many groups that filled the vacuum of authority following the overthrow of Moammar Gadhafi." The report goes on to say:

"[Khattala] has been described as a 'person of interest' in the investigation, according to officials.

"In that interview, Khattala told CNN's Arwa Damon that he had not been contacted by any Libyan or American officials.

" 'Even the investigative team did not try to contact me,' he told Damon, referring to the FBI.

"When asked whether he would be willing to meet with investigators if they asked, Khattala said: 'Yes, no problem. ... But not as an interrogation, as a conversation like the one we are having right now.'

"Damon spent two hours interviewing Khattala at a coffee shop at a well-known hotel in Benghazi, describing his demeanor as fairly relaxed. He allowed Damon to use an audio recorder to tape the conversation, but refused to appear on camera."

If it's true that the FBI hasn't even tried to contact someone they believe to have some connection to the attack, and that he can be readily found and interviewed by an American news network in the city, that's a terrible commentary on how seriously our government is taking the attack itself -- regardless of whether you think anyone from President Obama on down bears any personal responsibility for the attack and the lives that were lost in it. You don't have to believe in some kind of conspiracy or cover-up to believe the federal government should be doing everything it can to investigate the attack and bring the killers to justice.

But I guess when you're busy trying to stonewall Congress and the media about something you also claim to have been no biggie, you just might lose track of which parts of the story are "phony" and which are dead serious.