House panel set to hear long-awaited Blinken testimony on Afghanistan withdrawal
Washington — Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to testify Wednesday before the Republican-led House Foreign Affairs Committee, which has long sought to question him over the deadly evacuation from Afghanistan.
Blinken's testimony comes nearly three months after the committee voted along partly lines to recommend that the nation's top diplomat be held in contempt of Congress amid a standoff over his appearance before the panel to discuss its investigation into the 2021 withdrawal.
The committee and State Department had been at odds for months, leading Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the Republican chairman, to issue multiple subpoenas for Blinken to testify in September. McCaul said Blinken's appearance was important as the committee considers "potential legislation aimed at helping prevent the catastrophic mistakes of the withdrawal."
Republicans on the committee released a lengthy report in September that detailed their yearslong investigation into the chaotic exit from Afghanistan and accused the Biden administration of misleading the public about the end of the 20-year war.
During its investigation, the committee conducted 18 transcribed interviews with Biden administration officials and received more than 20,000 pages of documents from the State Department, some of which were obtained through subpoenas. Blinken was not among those who testified for the report, but the State Department noted amid the standoff with the committee that he has testified to Congress on Afghanistan more than 14 times.
The report accused President Biden and his administration of ignoring repeated warnings from military officials, national security advisers and U.S. allies about the risks of removing all American forces from Afghanistan, saying Mr. Biden "prioritized politics and his personal legacy over America's national security interests."
Blinken was among those faulted in the report, which said he "remained largely absent throughout the State Department's withdrawal planning" and the evacuation.
"Indeed, witnesses interviewed, and documents produced by federal agencies pursuant to the investigation, confirm Secretary Blinken likely ceded his responsibility to subordinates on Afghanistan," the report said.
Blinken advocated for the U.S. Embassy in Kabul to remain open regardless of the military withdrawal, according to the report, which said that the desire to maintain a diplomatic presence contributed to the State Department's "lack of urgency and their delays in planning for the worst-case scenarios."
The report also noted that diplomatic officials on the ground expressed concerns about the commitment to keep the embassy open despite the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, culminating in a July 2021 dissent cable warning that Kabul would fall after the planned withdrawal. Two weeks before the U.S. troops left Afghanistan, State Department leaders agreed to shutter the embassy, the report said.
Republicans threatened to hold Blinken in contempt of Congress in 2023 as they sought to review the classified dissent cable. The State Department eventually allowed lawmakers to view a partially redacted version.
Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee accused Republicans of politicizing the withdrawal and said the majority took "particular pains to avoid facts involving former President Donald Trump."
Last year, the White House released its own 12-page summary of a classified review of the Afghanistan exit that largely blamed the Trump administration for a deal it struck with the Taliban to withdraw U.S. forces from the country by May 2021. The deal, known as the Doha Agreement, laid out a series of conditions for the Taliban to fulfill in order for U.S. forces to fully leave Afghanistan. Another report partially declassified and released by the State Department last year faulted both the Trump and Biden administrations for "insufficient" planning surrounding the withdrawal.
