The committee plans to liberate its file at the Afghanistan withdrawal on Sept. 9.
The Area International Affairs Committee has subpoenaed Secretary of State Antony Blinken to testify on Sept. 19 concerning the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The subpoena follows up on a Would possibly 22 request through committee’s chairman Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) for Blinken to seem at a Sept. 19 listening to in regards to the withdrawal.
Blinken used to be the “ultimate resolution maker for the Division at the withdrawal and evacuation,” McCaul wrote in his letter, mentioning present and previous State Division officers.
“You might be subsequently able to tell the committee’s attention of attainable law geared toward serving to save you the catastrophic errors of the withdrawal, together with attainable reforms to the dept’s legislative authorization,” McCaul wrote.
All through an Aug. 19 dialogue, McCaul agreed to offer Blinken extra time to nail down a listening to date.
The dept didn’t supply a date for a listening to when contacted through the committee over the path of 3 days, beginning on Aug. 26. The dept as a substitute asked a telephone name on Aug. 30. McCaul, within the letter to Blinken, criticized what he referred to as “the State Division’s failure to substantiate a date.”
All through the Would possibly 22 listening to, Blinken didn’t devote to seem prior to the committee in September.
“Mr. Chairman, I’ve seemed prior to this committee 5 instances, together with one time devoted only to Afghanistan, however each and every time taking questions about Afghanistan. That’s greater than any of my contemporary predecessors have executed,” Blinken stated, including that they might speak about scheduling a September listening to.
Blinken defended the State Division’s reaction to the Afghanistan withdrawal and its aftermath right through Would possibly’s listening to.
“Mr. Chairman, for the Gold Celebrity households, for the president, for me, [and] for everybody concerned, we grieve with them—the losses they suffered, together with over twenty years in Afghanistan, [and] we honor their sacrifice,” Blinken stated.
“Some of the techniques we do this, in fact, is through collaborating in oversight, answering questions, [and] giving the American other folks the solutions they deserve. We’ve engaged in excellent religion on this.”
Blinken famous that the dept facilitated greater than a dozen interviews between the committee and previous and present management officers concerned within the withdrawal, which passed off after nearly twenty years of battle within the central Asian nation.
The State Division has passed over paperwork associated with the withdrawal to the Area International Affairs Committee, in line with the committee.
Remaining yr, the dept declined a request through the committee at hand over a dissent channel cable concerning the withdrawal, mentioning privateness considerations. The dissent channel permits State Division staff to specific coverage disagreements or grievance to management “in a way which protects the writer from any penalty, reprisal, or recrimination,” in line with the dept.
McCaul issued a subpoena, and the dept allowed him and the committee to view the report.
“Even though I can’t talk about the categorized knowledge within the cable, I will be able to say the dissenters had been proper—and the management will have to have listened,” McCaul stated in a Would possibly commentary.
The State Division didn’t reply to a request for remark.