The Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday called Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s refusal to hand over a key document on the withdrawal from Afghanistan “bulls.”
And Rep. Mike McCaul gave Blinken until the end of Monday to deliver a mid-July 2021 dissent cable from diplomats in Kabul setting out his reservations about leaving.
Failure, he said, would force legal action.
“I have the subpoena, it’s right here,” McCaul said as he waved a document in the air during the committee hearing. And I’m prepared to serve this.
He first requested the cable in August 2021, as the chaotic exit was unfolding, and has intensified his demands since Republicans seized control of the House and its committees as he investigates why the exit went so wrong.
“I have the subpoena, it’s right here,” Rep. Mike McCaul said as he waved a document in the air during the committee hearing. ‘And I’m prepared to serve this’
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the dissent cables were intended to remain confidential, which is why he had not been prepared to hand over a key document to the committee.
He also sought the after-action report discussing the embassy withdrawal and evacuation plans. The evacuation plan was delivered, and Blinken announced that the after-action report would soon be delivered to Congress.
The dissident cable reportedly warns that the internationally backed government in Kabul would likely collapse if the US left.
During his questioning, the Secretary of State said that the dissident cables had to be kept secret.
“The tradition of having a dissent channel is something that is cherished in the department and goes back decades: it is a unique way for anyone in the department to speak the truth to power as they see it without fear or favoritism.” said. .
‘And they do it, because of the rules that we established for these cables in a privileged and confidential way.
‘It is vital to me that we preserve the integrity of that process and that channel, that we do not take any steps that could have a chilling effect on the willingness of others to come forward in the future, to express dissenting views on policy. that they are being persecuted.
Instead, he suggested holding a briefing on some of the key details.
McCaul had none of it. He referenced a similar dispute in the 1970s and a message from a former US ambassador.
The withdrawal in August 2021 was marked by dramatic footage from Kabul airport as desperate Afghans tried to flee their new Taliban rulers.
‘And in a statement (former Ambassador Boyatt) provided to the committee, he says that any claim provided to Congress would have a chilling effect, as his staff has claimed, and I quote him directly here, “Bulls***.”
‘Not my words, those are the ambassador’s.’
McCaul set a deadline for Monday.
“I will give you until the close of business on Monday to produce that dissent cable for this committee and this Congress so that the American people can see what the embassy employees in Kabul were thinking about their policy from which they dissented.” he said.
Republicans are examining the circumstances that led to the US withdrawal and how 13 US personnel were killed in a suicide attack amid the chaos at Kabul airport.
Earlier this month, the committee heard from Marine Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews, who was a security detail in a tower, was watching desperate Afghans trying to flee the city’s new Taliban rulers, when he was struck by a huge pressure wave.
The withdrawal reached its darkest moment when a suicide bomber detonated explosives in the chaos, killing 13 US servicemen and dozens of Afghans.
Marine Sniper Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews broke down in tears earlier this month as he recounted his ordeal and criticized the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan that Republicans have called a “stunning failure of leadership.”
It was August 26, 2021, and an ISIS-K suicide bomber had detonated on the perimeter of Hamid Karzai International Airport during the chaotic evacuation sparked by the Biden administration’s troop withdrawal after 20 years in Afghanistan.
Just moments before the attack, the California veteran saw a terrorist matching the suspect’s description and asked if he could “commit” but says his leaders refused.
Between 100 and 150 ball bearings ended up on Vargas-Andrews’ body in the blast that killed 11 fellow Marines, two Army corpsmen and hundreds of Afghan men, women and children. Her right arm and his right leg had to be amputated over the course of 43 surgeries that followed.
Vargas-Andrews broke down in tears as she recounted her harrowing experience, criticizing the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan that Republicans have called a “shocking failure of leadership.”
He detailed how military leaders ignored his warnings minutes before and how those stationed at the airport were told not to participate, even though the Taliban were shooting at people trying to get on a plane.
