House Republican Subpoenas Blinken Over Afghanistan Withdrawal

[cigaretteman]

The Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday issued a subpoena for Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken’s testimony, threatening to hold him in contempt if he failed to address the panel later this month about the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
In his letter subpoenaing Mr. Blinken, the chairman, Representative Michael McCaul of Texas, wrote that receiving the testimony was important for committee members as they prepared “potential legislation aimed at helping prevent the catastrophic mistakes of the withdrawal,” after the expected release of an investigative report into the subject next week.
“You served as the final decision maker for the department on the withdrawal and evacuation,” Mr. McCaul wrote in the letter, demanding that Mr. Blinken appear before the panel on Sept. 19 to speak about his role, and complaining that he had missed previous deadlines to comply.
In a statement, Matthew Miller, the State Department spokesman, said Mr. Blinken would not be available on that date and criticized the committee’s refusal to accept what he called “reasonable alternatives to comply with Chairman McCaul’s request for a public hearing.”
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“It is disappointing that instead of continuing to engage with the department in good faith, the committee instead has issued yet another unnecessary subpoena,” Mr. Miller wrote, noting that Mr. Blinken had testified before Congress 14 times, including four appearances before Mr. McCaul’s panel.
The summons comes amid fresh political squabbling over the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 as the presidential race enters its final weeks. Democrats denounced former President Donald J. Trump for shooting video for his campaign last week at Arlington National Cemetery, where he appeared for a wreath-laying ceremony to honor service members killed during the evacuation. Mr. Trump has stepped up his attacks on President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, maintaining that they mismanaged the U.S. exit from Afghanistan and blaming them personally for failing to prevent the deaths of 13 Americans at Abbey Gate, outside the Kabul airport.
Mr. McCaul’s report, the culmination of nearly three years of investigative work, is expected to lay similar blame at the feet of Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris.
“It will serve as an indictment on the administration’s reckless refusal to properly prepare for the withdrawal,” Mr. McCaul said in a statement last week announcing the release of the report. “President Biden and Vice President Harris can no longer sweep their unmitigated disaster of epic proportions that they created under the rug.”
In a statement last week, Representative Gregory W. Meeks of New York, the highest-ranking Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, dismissed Mr. McCaul’s threats to subpoena Mr. Blinken as “political stunts that show the Republican Party’s desperation to score headlines during an election season.”
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Tuesday’s subpoena is the third that Mr. McCaul has issued to Mr. Blinken in conjunction with the panel’s Afghanistan investigation. The previous two sought documents related to the inquiry.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/03/us/politics/blinken-subpoena-house-afghanistan.html

 

[TarponSpringsNole]

They’ve nothing better to do. Polling must be dour.

 

[ericram]

Maybe they should subpoena biff as he is the one that cut the deal and set the exit date.

 

[tarheelbybirth]

Let's call in Trump and ask why he cut troop levels to 2,500, closed every air base but one, slow-walked visas for our Afghani allies, and - most importantly - negotiated a deal with the Taliban that released 5,000 captured Taliban fighters while excluding the legitimate government of Afghanistan from the process. And then ask how he expected the Afghani military to trust us after that betrayal.

Just spit-ballin'.

 

[sober_teacher]

So weird…wonder why they’re doing this now? Total mystery to me…

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

Let's call in Trump and ask why he cut troop levels to 2,500, closed every air base but one, slow-walked visas for our Afghani allies, and - most importantly - negotiated a deal with the Taliban that released 5,000 captured Taliban fighters while excluding the legitimate government of Afghanistan from the process. And then ask how he expected the Afghani military to trust us after that betrayal.

Just spit-ballin'.

Those were the agreed upon terms and you seem to be omitting the part where thr afghans bent over the moment our wheels were off thr ground.


The Afghan people are ****ing cowards and deserve every bit of what they get, they had a chance to defend their land and they ****ing walked away.

 

[GES4]

The Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday issued a subpoena for Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken’s testimony, threatening to hold him in contempt if he failed to address the panel later this month about the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
In his letter subpoenaing Mr. Blinken, the chairman, Representative Michael McCaul of Texas, wrote that receiving the testimony was important for committee members as they prepared “potential legislation aimed at helping prevent the catastrophic mistakes of the withdrawal,” after the expected release of an investigative report into the subject next week.
“You served as the final decision maker for the department on the withdrawal and evacuation,” Mr. McCaul wrote in the letter, demanding that Mr. Blinken appear before the panel on Sept. 19 to speak about his role, and complaining that he had missed previous deadlines to comply.
In a statement, Matthew Miller, the State Department spokesman, said Mr. Blinken would not be available on that date and criticized the committee’s refusal to accept what he called “reasonable alternatives to comply with Chairman McCaul’s request for a public hearing.”
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“It is disappointing that instead of continuing to engage with the department in good faith, the committee instead has issued yet another unnecessary subpoena,” Mr. Miller wrote, noting that Mr. Blinken had testified before Congress 14 times, including four appearances before Mr. McCaul’s panel.
The summons comes amid fresh political squabbling over the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 as the presidential race enters its final weeks. Democrats denounced former President Donald J. Trump for shooting video for his campaign last week at Arlington National Cemetery, where he appeared for a wreath-laying ceremony to honor service members killed during the evacuation. Mr. Trump has stepped up his attacks on President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, maintaining that they mismanaged the U.S. exit from Afghanistan and blaming them personally for failing to prevent the deaths of 13 Americans at Abbey Gate, outside the Kabul airport.
Mr. McCaul’s report, the culmination of nearly three years of investigative work, is expected to lay similar blame at the feet of Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris.
“It will serve as an indictment on the administration’s reckless refusal to properly prepare for the withdrawal,” Mr. McCaul said in a statement last week announcing the release of the report. “President Biden and Vice President Harris can no longer sweep their unmitigated disaster of epic proportions that they created under the rug.”
In a statement last week, Representative Gregory W. Meeks of New York, the highest-ranking Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, dismissed Mr. McCaul’s threats to subpoena Mr. Blinken as “political stunts that show the Republican Party’s desperation to score headlines during an election season.”
Advertisement
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Tuesday’s subpoena is the third that Mr. McCaul has issued to Mr. Blinken in conjunction with the panel’s Afghanistan investigation. The previous two sought documents related to the inquiry.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/03/us/politics/blinken-subpoena-house-afghanistan.html

Benghazi Redux

 

[ICHawk-I]

LOL at threat of contempt if he doesn't comply.

 

[Jimmy McGill]

Dipshits

 

[tarheelbybirth]

LOL at threat of contempt if he doesn't comply.

 

[Obviously Oblivious]

Let’s have Trump and Pompeo explain to the committee why they negotiated with the Taliban only and allowed releasing thousand of Taliban prisoners long before the planned withdrawal while also excluding the Afghani government from the entire process was a good decision. They’re the ones with blood on their hands.

 

[ICHawk-I]

That GIF would be perfect if it was Jim Jordan doing it.

 

[JMNSHO]

Those were the agreed upon terms and you seem to be omitting the part where thr afghans bent over the moment our wheels were off thr ground.


The Afghan people are ****ing cowards and deserve every bit of what they get, they had a chance to defend their land and they ****ing walked away.

Defend their land from what? Themselves? They never wanted what we wanted.

 

[Scruddy]

The Afghanistan withdrawal may be the single most embarrassing moment in the history of the US military/leadership. Heads should roll. People clinging to and falling from airplanes in a desperate attempt to flee the country is entirely on biden/harris and their "leadership" team.

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

The Afghanistan withdrawal may be the single most embarrassing moment in the history of the US military/leadership. Heads should roll. People clinging to and falling from airplanes in a desperate attempt to flee the country is entirely on biden/harris and their "leadership" team.

We left 83 billion dollars worth of equipment and a couple hundred million in cash was "misplaced" to the taliban to keep it all operational.

 

[fsu1jreed]

We left 83 billion dollars worth of equipment and a couple hundred million in cash was "misplaced" to the taliban to keep it all operational.

Lol, you are so brainwashed...any equipment was left was afghani owned

And now it's 83 billion?

It was only 7 billion and all had long been transferred to the Afghanistan government

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

Lol, you are so brainwashed...any equipment was left was afghani owned

And now it's 83 billion?

Keep reading, you will get to the part where I call the Afghan cowards.

 

[tumorboy]

Full accounting should be done. Doubt this is the place for it though. Most likely grandstanding.

 

[Scruddy]

Full accounting should be done. Doubt this is the place for it though. Most likely grandstanding.

This. It's political posturing and nothing else imo. There should be a formal investigation going back to who knew that the taliban would retake control when we left. There are old videos of military trainers laughing at the inability of afghans to do jumping Jack's or push ups. There's no way we sunk as many trillions into this as we did without knowing how worthless the investment actually was. If that's the case heads should still roll imo.

 

[LunchBox50]

WHERE'S HUNTER??????

 

[ICHawk-I]

The Afghanistan withdrawal may be the single most embarrassing moment in the history of the US military/leadership. Heads should roll. People clinging to and falling from airplanes in a desperate attempt to flee the country is entirely on biden/harris and their "leadership" team.

What roll did the VP have in this? Is she Commander in Chief? What power did she have to prevent it?

 

[Scruddy]

What roll did the VP have in this? Is she Commander in Chief? What power did she have to prevent it?

She was the last person in the room with biden and endorsed every decision. Her own words, comrade.

 

[Scruddy]

WHERE'S HUNTER??????

For some reason nobody is buying his 500k crack paintings anymore so he's back to smoking parmesan cheese from the hotel carpet.

 

[abby97]

Defend their land from what? Themselves? They never wanted what we wanted.

Ya, Afghan women love being kept as sex slaves and not being allowed to attend school or work. Oh and one thing they really enjoy is being draped in black fabric from head to toe in 100 degree heat.

 

[GES4]

The Afghanistan withdrawal may be the single most embarrassing moment in the history of the US military/leadership. Heads should roll. People clinging to and falling from airplanes in a desperate attempt to flee the country is entirely on biden/harris and their "leadership" team.

YGTBFM.

Did you know we invaded an entire country on a false pretense?

Check out the body count on that "moment."

 

[DooBi]

Maybe they should subpoena biff as he is the one that set the exit date.

 

[bunsen82]

LOL at threat of contempt if he doesn't comply.

Since he has already testatified on the events multiple times I don't think the senator has a good excuse to subpoena. What new information does he expect to gather?

 

[JMNSHO]

Ya, Afghan women love being kept as sex slaves and not being allowed to attend school or work. Oh and one thing they really enjoy is being draped in black fabric from head to toe in 100 degree heat.

Did we give the women guns? Maybe I missed that.

 

[tarheelbybirth]

Those were the agreed upon terms and you seem to be omitting the part where thr afghans bent over the moment our wheels were off thr ground.

I guessed you missed the part where we betrayed them by excluding THEIR govt from the negotiations and released 5-fvcking-thousand of the fighters they had been at war with for decades. Then Trump screwed the ANDSF.

There were agreed upon terms? Yeah, there sure were. Here's Trump's own DOD IG in May 2020:

Although U.S. and Taliban representatives signed an agreement on February 29 as a first step toward ending the conflict, a number of events occurred that raised questions over whether the peace process would take place. Taliban violence continued at high levels, even during a negotiated weeklong reduction in violence that led to the agreement’s signing. The Taliban limited violence against coalition forces but increased attacks against the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) during this period. The Taliban escalated violence further after signing the agreement. U.S. forces defended the ANDSF against the Taliban. U.S. officials stated the Taliban must reduce violence as a necessary condition for continued U.S. reduction in forces and that remaining high levels of violence could jeopardize the U.S.-Taliban agreement. Even still, the United States began to reduce its forces in Afghanistan from roughly 13,000 to 8,600.

And that was on the way to a total presence of 2,500 troops. Trump violated his own agreement. The Afghani army bent over as soon as they were sure we were actually leaving...there were Taliban troops overrunning the capitol while we were flying out. They were supposed to trust us after everything Trump did?

You want to call an admin on the carpet? Start there or STFU.

 

[GES4]

I guessed you missed the part where we betrayed them by excluding THEIR govt from the negotiations and released 5-fvcking-thousand of the fighters they had been at war with for decades. Then Trump screwed the ANDSF.

There were agreed upon terms? Yeah, there sure were. Here's Trump's own DOD IG in May 2020:

Although U.S. and Taliban representatives signed an agreement on February 29 as a first step toward ending the conflict, a number of events occurred that raised questions over whether the peace process would take place. Taliban violence continued at high levels, even during a negotiated weeklong reduction in violence that led to the agreement’s signing. The Taliban limited violence against coalition forces but increased attacks against the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) during this period. The Taliban escalated violence further after signing the agreement. U.S. forces defended the ANDSF against the Taliban. U.S. officials stated the Taliban must reduce violence as a necessary condition for continued U.S. reduction in forces and that remaining high levels of violence could jeopardize the U.S.-Taliban agreement. Even still, the United States began to reduce its forces in Afghanistan from roughly 13,000 to 8,600.

And that was on the way to a total presence of 2,500 troops. Trump violated his own agreement. The Afghani army bent over as soon as they were sure we were actually leaving...there were Taliban troops overrunning the capitol while we were flying out. They were supposed to trust us after everything Trump did?

You want to call an admin on the carpet? Start there or STFU.

And DJT tried to get them to come over and sign the agreement at Camp David. LMAO.

 

[ICHawk-I]

She was the last person in the room with biden and endorsed every decision. Her own words, comrade.

So they had a withdrawl plan and things went awry. Biden isn't getting re-elected and Harris hopefully learned some lessons. What more do you want? Don't say accountability and then vote for the guy who has NEVER had any, until now.

I get you just want to tie her to Biden in every sense, but the VP has no power to overrule the POTUS so your attempt to do so is hollow.

 

[Scruddy]

So they had a withdrawl plan and things went awry. Biden isn't getting re-elected and Harris hopefully learned some lessons. What more do you want? Don't say accountability and then vote for the guy who has NEVER had any, until now.

I get you just want to tie her to Biden in every sense, but the VP has no power to overrule the POTUS so your attempt to do so is hollow.

Much more than the excuses you're offering for starters. As for me tying her to biden?? What?? She's his vp. She's tethered to him in every capacity. She also said she regrets nothing and supported what Biden did.

 

[Scruddy]

YGTBFM.

Did you know we invaded an entire country on a false pretense?

Check out the body count on that "moment."

Aren't you on the side currently supporting the cheney family? Take a look in the mirror.

 

[DogBoyRy]

Let's call in Trump and ask why he cut troop levels to 2,500, closed every air base but one, slow-walked visas for our Afghani allies, and - most importantly - negotiated a deal with the Taliban that released 5,000 captured Taliban fighters while excluding the legitimate government of Afghanistan from the process. And then ask how he expected the Afghani military to trust us after that betrayal.

Just spit-ballin'.

Wrong.
And that one airbase was the key…

 

[BioHawk]

He should just respond with "I'll show up right after Jim Jordan and the others respond to theirs. Until then, Subpoenas from Congress aren't worth the paper they are written on". Honestly, that should be the response for any Congressional subpoena. The only way I'd show up is so I could lay into one of the Congresspeople.

 

[Ferentz_Fan]

KH was the last one in the room?
JB doesn't remember it happening.

 

[sober_teacher]

He should just respond with "I'll show up right after Jim Jordan and the others respond to theirs. Until then, Subpoenas from Congress aren't worth the paper they are written on". Honestly, that should be the response for any Congressional subpoena. The only way I'd show up is so I could lay into one of the Congresspeople.

Nah. I’d show up with a book and just read.

 

[BioHawk]

Nah. I’d show up with a book and just read.

That would be interesting too. And then when they ask a question just say that you are waiting for them to respond to their subpoena before taking any of this seriously. On the other hand, laying into them to the point they throw you out of the room would be fun as well.

 

[jonesy5960]

This is so ****ing dumb.

 

[Here_4_a_Day]

They’ve nothing better to do. Polling must be dour.

JFC....change that pic!