House Republicans move to hold Blinken in contempt over chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal
House Republicans moved to hold Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt of Congress Tuesday after he failed to appear for .
Blinken reportedly sent a letter to chair Michael McCaul saying he was "profoundly disappointed" in his decision to advance contempt proceedings and urged him to find a resolution in "good faith."
"As I have made clear, I am willing to testify and have offered several reasonable alternatives to the dates unilaterally demanded by the Committee during which I am carrying out the President's important foreign policy objectives," Blinken wrote in the Sunday letter obtained by The Associated Press.
On Tuesday morning, Blinken that he was on the way to the U.N. General Assembly in New York to watch President Joe Biden deliver remarks.
McCaul has been running a widespread investigation into the withdrawal from Afghanistan since Republicans took the House majority during the 2022 midterms.
"Let the record reflect that for four months, I patiently asked for and waited on his availability in September," McCaul continued in his opening statement. "But instead of working with me, Secretary Blinken made false promises and accused me of politicizing this important issue."
The slamming the exit from Afghanistan in 2021 described it as a poorly planned departure and a "stunning failure of leadership" after the Taliban was able to conquer the country before the last U.S. officials flew out on Aug. 30, 2021.
One of the main takeaways from the report is claiming that the Biden administration was determined to leave Afghanistan "with or without the Doha Agreement" — a deal made under the Trump administration for a phased withdrawal — and "no matter the cost."
Last week, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller accused McCaul and the committee of repeatedly calling for hearings on days they knew Blinken would be unavailable to appear.
Blinken has testified about Afghanistan 14 times, including four times before McCaul's committee.
McCaul said the department was being "disingenuous" because it had declined repeated requests to pick a date in September for Blinken to testify. "If we are forced to hold Secretary Blinken in contempt of Congress, he has no one to blame but himself," he said in a statement last week.
Democrats on the committee have painted the Republican report as a smear campaign meant to harm the Biden administration and Harris' presidential campaign.
The White House denounced the committee's report in a statement.
"Everything we have seen and heard of Chairman McCaul's latest partisan report shows that it is based on cherry-picked facts, inaccurate characterizations, and pre-existing biases that have plagued this investigation from the start," a White House spokesperson said.
