State Department spokesperson Ned Price on Friday denied allegations that the Taliban was provided with the names of people residing in Afghanistan who sought evacuation from the country, contradicting President Joe Biden’s previous remarks.
When asked about a POLITICO report that said the United States gave a list of Americans, green card holders and Afghan allies to the Taliban, Price asserted that such an occurrence never happened.
"The idea that we are providing names or personally identifiable information to the Taliban in a way that exposes anyone to additional risk, that is simply wrong, simply wrong," Price said.
This comes after Biden suggested Thursday that the report was likely accurate. At the conclusion of his speech on the evolving crisis in Afghanistan, the president told reporters that "there may have been" instances where U.S. officials provided the Taliban with names of evacuees in order for the terror group to allow them passage to the Kabul airport.
"There have been occasions where our military has contacted their military counterparts in the Taliban and said this bus is coming through...made up of the following group...let it through," Biden said. "Yes, there have been occasions like that."
And while he said that the "bulk of that group" has been granted entry to the airport, the president admitted that he cannot say with "certitude" that the Taliban received a list of names.
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Lawmakers blasted the Biden administration after hearing of what they are a calling a "kill list" that was given to the Taliban.
Media reports indicate that the Biden Admin gave the Taliban the names of US citizens & Afghan allies we wanted to evacuate
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) August 27, 2021
I am demanding a response from them now
Because if this is true, @Potus basically provided the Taliban with a user friendly kill list
Absolutely reckless and horrific.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) August 26, 2021
The Biden Administration gave the Taliban a kill list while lying to us, saying they didn’t have details on every name and whereabouts.
Every single person involved must resign or be impeached.https://t.co/SbMrXgCEb5
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