House of Representatives Chairman Michael McCaul has threatened Secretary of State Antony Blinken with contempt of Congress if he does not comply with a subpoena seeking a classified cable related to the August 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The committee issued a subpoena in March, and the State Department has said some information can only be shared with senior officials to protect the identity of those expressing dissent. The letter stated that the department must comply or assert a legal basis to withhold the documents no later than May 11 at 6:00 pm EDT (2200 GMT). Republicans and Democrats have both criticized the lack of full accounting for the chaotic operation.
A top House Republican is threatening to hold Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena demanding that the State Department hand over a July 2021 dissent cable from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, argues that President Biden's administration has been stonewalling his investigations into what many consider an ill-planned withdrawal from Afghanistan which ended disastrously.
The fallout included an evacuation riddled with chaos, Taliban takeover, hundreds stranded Americans and thousands abandoned Afghan allies all culminating in thirteen service members losing their lives due to an ISIS-K suicide bombing.
McCaul is fed up with Blinken repeatedly refusing to hand over an internal dissent cable signed by two dozen UN embassy members in Kabul sent just over a month before Taliban forces took control over Kabul city.
If passed, it would mark Anthony Blinken as being held under contempt since January; this decision would then be forwarded onto Biden's Justice Department who will determine whether charges should be filed against him.
Rep. Michael McCaul claims he will hold Secretary Antony Blinken in contempt if sensitive cables relating directly to America's withdrawal from Afghanistan are not handed over. The State Department has pushed back against the request, stating that providing dissent cable to the committee would threaten both the integrity of classified reporting processes and those involved in their creation.
At least 123 Dissent Channel cables have been sent since 1971, with a vast majority remaining classified. Given Republican's slim majority in Congress, it remains possible for a vote on holding Blinken in contempt to pass. This could potentially set up an unprecedented constitutional showdown between House Republicans and President Biden's administration regarding legislative oversight powers.