Secretary of State Antony Blinken could be subpoenaed on Monday if he does not turn over classified documents about the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said.
“It is extraordinary that 23 embassy officials disagree with the policies of the Secretary of State and the White House,” Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, told Fox News Sunday host Shannon Bream.
“We want to know — and the American people deserve to know, and the veterans and the Gold Star moms deserve to know — what was in those dissident cables.”
Last week, during a hearing on the State Department’s budget, McCaul Blinken gave a Monday deadline to provide the committee with a dissent telegram prepared by at least 23 diplomats who had arrived at the U.S. embassy in Kabul in July 2021. were stationed. the US withdrawal at the end of August 2021.
The document was sent through a “dissemination channel”, which allows State Department officials to send warnings to senior officials.
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Texas Republican Representative Michael McCaul appears on “Fox News Sunday.” (Fox news)
“We need this dissident telegram, and I think the American people deserve to see it, to know what the hell was going on in those critical weeks,” McCaul told Blinken at the hearing last week. “I have the subpoena. It is here and I am willing to serve it.’
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McCaul told Bream on Sunday that he will stick to his plan to serve the subpoena if he does not receive such documents.
State Secretary Antony Blinken speaks at the Munich Security Conference on February 18, 2023 in Munich. (John Simon/Getty Images)
“If they don’t deliver by Monday, end of business day, I’ll serve that subpoena,” McCaul said.
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Blinken said at the hearing last week that the State Department will not release a copy of the cable to protect the anomalous channel.
“It is vital to me that we maintain the integrity of that process and 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 address dissenting opinions on the express policy.” that are being pursued,” said Blinken.
McCaul said on Sunday that the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, which killed 13 US servicemen, was a “turning point” for America’s “projection of weakness” on the world stage, pointing specifically to how China and Russia interpreted the withdrawal.
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden attend the dignified transfer of the remains of servicemen killed in Afghanistan at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, August 29, 2021. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
“When Afghanistan imploded, that was the turning point. Then Putin… looked at Ukraine, and Xi looks at Taiwan. Then everything changed. Afghanistan was a turning point. It was a disaster. We left Americans behind, Afghan partners behind.” ,” he said.
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The State Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on McCaul’s comments on Sunday.
