Antony Blinken is put in the hot seat after being sued for this terrible reason
Biden’s cabinet is filled with bad actors or incompetent fools. Now they’re going to get grilled.
Because Antony Blinken got put in the hot seat after being sued for this terrible reason.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee has had enough of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s stonewalling.
On Tuesday, the committee, led by Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas), issued a subpoena demanding Blinken finally testify about his role in the Harris-Biden administration’s disastrous and chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Blinken has been given until September 19 to comply, or face being held in contempt of Congress.
McCaul’s message to Blinken was clear: as the Secretary of State during the withdrawal and non-combatant evacuation operation, Blinken was supposed to lead these efforts and ensure the safe evacuation of Americans and Afghan allies. His testimony is crucial for the House’s investigation into this monumental failure.
“In testimony before the Committee, current and former State Department officials have confirmed that you served as the final decisionmaker for the Department on the withdrawal and evacuation,” McCaul stated in a letter to Blinken, emphasizing the importance of his cooperation.
McCaul also pointed out that Blinken is in a unique position to inform potential legislation aimed at preventing a repeat of these catastrophic mistakes.
Despite McCaul’s repeated requests since May for Blinken to testify voluntarily, the Secretary of State has refused.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller attempted to defend Blinken’s refusal by highlighting that Blinken has already appeared before Congress numerous times and is allegedly unavailable on the dates the committee suggested.
Miller’s defense rings hollow, however, as it fails to address why Blinken continues to dodge direct questioning on the Afghanistan debacle.
Miller’s complaint that the subpoena is “unnecessary” seems more like an excuse to avoid accountability than a valid argument.
Earlier this year, McCaul had threatened to hold Blinken in contempt after the State Department refused to turn over subpoenaed documents related to the botched withdrawal.
It was only after this threat that the department reluctantly produced the documents.
Similarly, last year, Blinken faced contempt proceedings for withholding a “dissent cable” that reportedly showed diplomats had warned of the dangers of the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Even then, it took months of pressure before the State Department granted committee members access to the cable.
The timing of this subpoena is notable, coming just after the three-year anniversary of the U.S. exit from Afghanistan — a retreat that left thousands of American citizens and Afghan allies stranded, while the Taliban swiftly regained control.
The chaos also led to the tragic deaths of 13 U.S. service members and at least 170 Afghans when an ISIS-K suicide bomber attacked outside the airport in Kabul.
McCaul has made it clear that this investigation is far from over, announcing that his committee’s findings on the Harris-Biden administration’s Afghanistan withdrawal will be released on September 9.
The subpoena to Blinken is yet another step in the committee’s relentless pursuit of the truth and accountability for this foreign policy catastrophe.
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
