Days After GOP Threatens Major Charge – Top Biden Official Caves, Coughs Up Evidence

Many critics maintain that the Afghanistan fiasco is still a black mark on the Biden administration. And Republicans on Capitol Hill still demand answers.

Now, they might finally get those answers — or at least more evidence regarding the President’s apparently botched withdrawal from Afghanistan after the Taliban took over the country.

It comes immediately after the GOP delivered an ultimatum: either give up that evidence, or face contempt charges.

That’s what they hit Secretary of State Antony Blinken with last week. House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) had subpoenaed a certain document several times earlier this year.

However, Blinken has failed to provide this document.

The intel in question is a dissent cable from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, and it allegedly contains doubts that State Department officials had regarding Biden’s withdrawal strategy.

From Fox News:

House Republicans will be able to view documents this week relating to President Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal after months of stonewalling by the State Department.

McCaul will visit the department this week to read the document alongside Rep. Greg Meeks, D-N.Y., the ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, according to Punchbowl News.

The pair will view the document in full, but the names of those who contributed to the dissent report will be redacted.

Blinken has been trying to avoid this for months, arguing that giving Republicans access to the documents “could dissuade State Department employees from being truthful in future dissent reports.”

That’s why he ignored the first subpoena headline back in March, then ignored it again when a new deadline came up in April.

Rep. McCaul was forced to push back the deadline again to May 1 but again, Blinken didn’t oblige. That’s when McCaul threatened Blinken with a serious contempt of Congress charge.

Evidently, this aggressive move worked because McCaul is finally getting those documents. As he told Fox:

I don’t take this lightly because a Secretary of State’s never been held in contempt by Congress before. And I think the secretary realizes that and the gravity.

They probably prefer not to go down this route as well. But if they do not comply, we’re prepared to move forward next week with a markup for resolution of contempt.

Though the contempt charge probably wouldn’t have been pursued by Biden’s Justice Department, it would’ve sent a strong message.

Republicans are going to do whatever it takes to unlock answers concerning the Afghanistan withdrawal mess, and they’re not going to stop until they get those answers. America deserves them, at the very least.

Afghanistan was the first major international issue Biden faced as President and many maintain that he failed miserably in dealing with the incident.

While the border crisis and other issues have since taken center-stage in Washington, the GOP keeps pushing to reveal more Afghanistan-related evidence.

Key Takeaways:

• House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) threatened Secretary of State Antony Blinken with a contempt of Congress charge.
• This charge would be leveled on May 24 if Blinken didn’t finally deliver documents related to Biden’s handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal.
• McCaul’s move got the job done, as House Republicans will be able to view those documents this week.

Source: Fox News