The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee slammed Secretary of State Antony Blinken, saying that the State Department has thus far refused to fully comply with his subpoena for documents on its handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Representative Michael McCaul sent the letter today, after the State Department initially handed over several documents related to its after-action review of the withdrawal process. He wrote that Blinken is not complying with the subpoena.
“To date, the Department of State (Department) has failed to comply with the Committee’s subpoena, producing only a meager 73 pages of significantly duplicative materials. You have a legal obligation to produce the subpoenaed documents in a timely manner without further delay, and I intend to hold the Department accountable,” McCaul wrote.
The State Department, which did not respond to National Review’s request for comment, has strenuously evaded McCaul’s requests for documents, leading the committee chairman to issue the subpoena on July 25.
McCaul told Blinken that his review will now also scrutinize the department’s refusal to comply with his oversight efforts, and he requested that the department make senior officials available for interviews. “To explore the Department’s lack of compliance, including the underlying causes, I request that Department officials responsible for producing these documents appear for transcribed interviews no later than August 21, 2023,” he wrote.
On June 30, State released its after-action review on Afghanistan, with that document offering a brisk summary of the administration’s conclusions about the disastrous pullout. The report blamed both “the decisions of President Trump and President Biden” for the chaos that ensued.
Notably, the State Department released the report over a year after its conclusion, and the disclosure came the Friday before the July 4 holiday.
“The Department’s anemic subpoena response suggests that it is either deliberately obstructing the Committee’s oversight, or that its document retention, location, and production procedures are astoundingly deficient. Neither is acceptable,” McCaul wrote.