Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., has criticized the Afghanistan dissent cable, which Secretary of State Antony Blinken allowed congressional access to, as "embarrassing" and debunking the Biden administration's narrative that it was caught off guard by the country's swift collapse in 2021. The document, signed by 23 staffers and diplomats, warned about the possibility of a rapid Taliban advance as the U.S. left the country, which President Joe Biden and other top officials downplayed at the time. Issa said his next course of action is trying to get the document declassified so that the families of the 13 U.S. service members who were killed during the chaotic withdrawal can get to the bottom of what happened.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul has paused his efforts to hold Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt for withholding a "dissent cable" from diplomats who warned of the risks of the US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. The State Department agreed to let McCaul and Ranking Member Gregory Meeks see the cable "in camera" with the names of the officials who authored the messages redacted. The cable contains the signatures of 23 State Department officials and was sent on or about July 13, 2021, weeks before the Biden administration removed US forces and the Taliban took over Kabul.
The State Department has offered two members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee to view a July 2021 "dissent cable" that warned the Biden administration about the risks of withdrawing from Afghanistan. The department had refused to comply with a subpoena for the cable issued back in March, leading to a potential contempt charge against Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The cable will be viewed "in camera" and with some redactions. Republicans on the committee have been probing the circumstances surrounding the disastrous US pullout from Afghanistan in August of 2021.
The State Department has agreed to allow lawmakers to view the "dissent channel cable" warning of a rapid Taliban advance in Afghanistan, just days before the House Foreign Affairs Committee was set to vote on whether to hold Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt for refusing to allow access. The cable, signed by 23 staffers and diplomats, warned of an immediate collapse in Afghanistan, which President Biden and other top officials downplayed at the time. The State Department's offer to allow the top two lawmakers on the committee to read the cable in camera with appropriate personal information redacted was made in the hope of satisfying their request for information.
The State Department will allow the House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman and Ranking Member to view a dissent cable on the withdrawal from Afghanistan, ahead of a planned resolution to hold Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt of Congress. The move comes after Chairman Michael McCaul subpoenaed the classified cable in March. The State Department had previously argued that the need to protect the "integrity" of the dissent channel prevented them from offering a private review of the cable.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee has threatened to hold Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt of Congress for failing to turn over an unredacted copy of a July 2021 "dissent cable" in which 23 diplomats reportedly warned of the Taliban's rapid advancement ahead of the disastrous US withdrawal from Afghanistan. The State Department prepared and delivered a "roughly" one-page summation of the cable, along with a summary of the agency's official response "that was just under one page in length," which the committee deemed insufficient. Blinken has until May 11 to provide the information or face contempt of Congress proceedings.
The Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Michael McCaul, has issued a subpoena for a dissent cable written by US diplomats serving in Afghanistan before the US withdrawal from the country. The cable warned that swift action needed to be taken by the department because they believed the situation in Afghanistan could rapidly deteriorate and they feared a catastrophe. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has told the committee that he opposed sharing the document because he was concerned about it having a chilling effect on diplomats’ use of the channel.
House Republicans have issued a subpoena to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, demanding he turn over a July 2021 dissent cable from US officials in Afghanistan warning of the risk of the government collapsing. The subpoena comes after a tense exchange between Blinken and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul, who views the cable as critical to understanding why the Biden administration failed to anticipate the rapid fall of the American-backed government and takeover by the Taliban. The State Department has expressed concern about undermining the confidential nature of the dissent channel.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, Rep. Michael McCaul, has threatened to subpoena the State Department for a cable written by diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul expressing urgent concerns about deteriorating security before the U.S.-backed government there collapsed and ceded the country to the Taliban. The State Department has provided lawmakers with some, but not all, of the requested documents. The Biden administration's chaotic exit from Afghanistan has led to ongoing reckoning and newly emboldened House Republicans vowing accountability for miscalculations and mistakes made.
Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael McCaul, demanded Secretary of State Antony Blinken to provide documents related to the chaotic and deadly US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, including a dissent cable authored by at least 23 diplomats serving at the US Embassy in Kabul in July 2021. Blinken refused to provide the physical copy of the cable to maintain the integrity of the Dissent Channel, a protected way for diplomats to raise serious and grave concerns on foreign policy directly to the secretary of State without fear of reprisal or retribution. McCaul called the State Department's reasoning "bullshit" and gave Blinken until the end of Monday to turn over the document.
