After Secretary of State Antony Blinken repeatedly ducked requests from the House Foreign Affairs Committee about the Biden-Harris failures to do with the Afghanistan withdrawal, Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) on Tuesday issued a subpoena.
In his letter, McCaul reminds that he had asked Blinken several times for commitments to show up before his Committee. This included a hearing on May 22, 2024 and a letter on August 12, 2024, which requested confirmation by August 19 that he would appear for a September 10, 2024 hearing. That letter included a warning, as McCaul reminded.
"This letter further indicated that should you choose 'not to appear voluntarily,' I would be obligated to proceed with compulsory process to compel your appearance. The Committee is holding this hearing because the Department of State was central to the Afghanistan withdrawal and served as the senior authority during the August non-combatant evacuation operation (NEO)," this September 3 letter pointed out. "As Secretary of State throughout the withdrawal and NEO, you were entrusted to lead these efforts and to secure the safe evacuation of Americans and Afghan allies. 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. You are therefore in a position to inform the Committee’s consideration of potential legislation aimed at helping prevent the catastrophic mistakes of the withdrawal, including potential reforms to the Department’s legislative authorization."
"Pursuant to your request for a telephone call and our subsequent discussion on August 19 – the response deadline – I informed you that the Committee’s report on the withdrawal will be released on September 9 and that you needed to appear at a hearing to address the findings set forth in the report. During this call, in the interest of the investigation, I agreed to provide you with additional time to finalize a scheduled date for your appearance, which you indicated would be “nail[ed] []down in the next week," McCaul continued.
There was still more attempts to get assurances from Blinken about appearing, McCaul reminded further, including communication from August 26 and August 27 from Committee Staff to the Department. Another request came just last week, on August 30.
"Despite repeated requests, and a warning of impending compulsory process, rather than provide proposed dates, the Department once again requested another telephone call be scheduled on August 30. Due to the State Department’s failure to confirm a date for your appearance, I am now forced to delay the date of the hearing to September 19," McCaul wrote about that request.
"The Committee has provided extraordinary accommodation in its multiple requests and communications seeking to finalize a date in line with your schedule. To date, the Department has yet to provide any potential dates for your appearance," he continued.
If Blinken does not appear before the Committee on September 19, he faces contempt.
Read his full letter below ⬇️https://t.co/0fSFrzSznl
— House Foreign Affairs Committee Majority (@HouseForeignGOP) September 3, 2024
In addition to a post shared over X and a press release from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Fox News' Chad Pergram shared earlier over X that Fox News had confirmed the subpoena.
McCaul had previously subpoenaed Blinken in May of last year, also to do with investigating the Afghanistan withdrawal.
Fox confirms. House Foreign Affairs Committee issues subpoena for Blinken over Afghanistan withdrawal
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) September 3, 2024