Congressional committee summons Blinken on Afghanistan withdrawal

The US House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday subpoenaed Secretary of State Antony Blinken, saying he had refused to appear before the panel to testify about the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.

In a letter regarding the subpoena, committee Chairman Michael McCaul said Blinken must appear before the committee on Sept. 19 or face contempt charges.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller countered that Blinken was not currently available to testify on the dates proposed by the committee but proposed “reasonable alternatives” to comply with McCaul’s request for a public hearing.

“It is disappointing that instead of continuing to engage with the Department in good faith, the commission has issued yet another unnecessary subpoena,” Miller said in a statement.

He added that Blinken had testified before Congress on Afghanistan more than 14 times, four of them before McCaul’s committee. The State Department had also provided the committee with nearly 20,000 pages of internal records, multiple high-level briefings and transcribed interviews.

In May, McCaul asked Blinken to appear at a September hearing on the panel’s report on its investigation into the Afghanistan withdrawal.

In his letter to Blinken, the committee’s Republican chairman said current and former State Department officials confirmed that Blinken was “the final decision maker” on the withdrawal and evacuation.

“You are therefore well positioned to inform the Committee’s consideration of possible legislation designed to help prevent catastrophic withdrawal errors, including possible reforms to the Department’s legislative authorization,” McCaul wrote.

The summons comes as events surrounding the withdrawal become an increasingly politicized issue ahead of the November 5 election.

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