Staff Reports
In response to a request from the Committee chair, the State Department has agreed to provide the committee with a wide range of documents related to the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan.
The newly-appointed chairman of the Committee, Congressman Michael McCaul of Texas, sent a letter to Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State, on Thursday, threatening to use the Committee's subpoena power if he was not given a response.
In his letter, McCaul noted that the previous requests for information about the withdrawal from Afghanistan have been going unanswered for a long time. He then requested that the State Department provide the Committee with the documents that it has been seeking.
In his letter, which was a 10-page document, McCaul asked for various documents related to the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Among the issues he wanted to discuss were the effects of the withdrawal on the country and the threat of the Islamic State group. He also wanted to know how the Afghan government would be able to operate after the US troops left.
In addition, he wanted to know how the military decided to remove the soldiers from Bagram Air Base following the Taliban's rise to power. The troops who carried out the evacuation operation vetted the individuals who were going to be sent to other countries.
Since he became the Committee's chairman, he and the other Republican members of the Committee have more power to ask relevant agencies to provide responses.
This week, Blinken and McCaul, as well as other State Department officials, met at the Department. A spokesperson for the State Department said that the meeting was very productive. “We look forward to continuing to engage with the new Congress and the Committee on various issues,” Price said.
The State Department spokesperson said that the department is eager to continue working with the Congress on various issues. These include the fight against terrorism and the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on Washington Examiner.
