GOP committee chair threatens Blinken with contempt of Congress over Afghan withdrawal information

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: NBC News

The House Foreign Affairs Committee chair has threatened to hold Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt of Congress if he does not turn over a classified cable reportedly warning that Kabul could collapse soon after the August 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The letter escalates a monthslong standoff between the House committee and the Biden administration, which has so far been unwilling to turn over the document to Congress.

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, on Monday released a May 5 letter demanding the State Department provide Congress with an unredacted version of the July 13, 2021, cable and its official response. McCaul threatened Blinken with contempt of Congress and a possible civil enforcement proceeding if he does not comply with the committee's request by 6 p.m. Thursday or provide a legal basis for withholding the document.

"The dissent cable and official response are critical and material to the Committee’s investigation into the catastrophic Afghanistan withdrawal," McCaul wrote in his letter. State Department employees can use the "dissent channel" to communicate dissenting foreign policy views with senior officials. A Wall Street Journal article said the cable warned that the Taliban could seize control of Kabul soon after U.S. troops withdrew from Afghanistan. In late March, the committee issued a subpoena to Blinken over the cable.

On April 27, the State Department gave the committee a briefing on the cable's contents and its official response. The department also provided Congress with a one-page summary of the dissent cable, as well as with a summary of the official response that came in at just under one page, according to McCaul's letter. The letter adds that the actual cable is four pages long.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/blinken-gets-contempt-congress-threat-afghan-withdrawal-rcna83310

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The was the previous administration's mandate that Biden had to follow. THAT is all that should even be relevant in this discussion.

Afghan conflict: US and Taliban sign deal to end 18-year war

Published

29 February 2020


The US and the Taliban have signed an "agreement for bringing peace" to Afghanistan after more than 18 years of conflict. The US and Nato allies have agreed to withdraw all troops within 14 months if the militants uphold the deal.

President Trump said it had been a "long and hard journey" in Afghanistan. "It's time after all these years to bring our people back home," he said. Talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban are due to follow.

Under the agreement, the militants also agreed not to allow al-Qaeda or any other extremist group to operate in the areas they control.

Speaking at the White House, Mr Trump said the Taliban had been trying to reach an agreement with the US for a long time.

(snip)

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51689443

[jaxexpat]

1. Any way they twist it, the truth is the first casualty.

Everything they do or say is in bad-faith.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

2. Relitigation, rehashing, pointing fingers, screaming and Twittering...no platform, no budget,

no governing, but equal treatment by media…is why they can do all this.

[LaMouffette]

3. They are clearly trying to make it another Benghazi to use against Biden. They're confident that

Republican voters have forgotten that it was Trump's mandate to get out of Afghanistan, and they sure as hell aren't going to remind them of that fact.

[zuul]

4. Wait . . . I thought it was okay to disregard requests from Congress.

I guess this falls within the category of "It's okay if you're a republican." Democrats are expected to comply with congressional demands, pubes not so much.

[pandr32]

5. If it is classified shouldn't they all have clearance?

No way would Darrell Issa receive top secret clearance as just one example. The documents would have to be so heavily redacted they would be unreadable.

[Bayard]

6. Give me what I want,

Or, I'll hold my breath until I turn blue!



I think any classified documents released to rethuglicans will quickly be disseminated to one and all.

[Kennah]

8. Imma go make a sandwich then get my car battery AED

[onecaliberal]

7. Ask dump. The documents are probably in his ketchup stained drawers at merdy lardo.

[NullTuples]

9. Foreign affairs are & always will be messy - the GOP is weaponizing that knowledge

...and is gladly willing to sacrifice the stability of our nation & its systems of government in their quest for power.

They'll pounce on any detail - without context - and try so very hard to turn it into a scandal.

Maybe because they know the Afghanistan withdrawal will come up when Trump starts campaigning and they want everyone to be burned out on it by then.