KABUL (Pajhwok): The House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee plans to subpoena Secretary of State Antony Blinken for top-secret cables regarding US exit from Afghanistan.
The subpoena, which could be delivered on Tuesday (today), marks an unprecedented effort to force the release of classified documents to Congress.
The Associated Press quoted Mike McCaul, the chairman of the powerful panel, as saying on Monday that he had talked to Blinken on the issue.
McCaul said in a statement: “We have made multiple good faith attempts to find common ground so we could see this critical piece of information.”
However, he regretted Blinken’s refusal to provide the dissent cable and his response to the cable. Consequently, McCaul said, he was forced to issue his maiden first subpoena as chairman of the committee.
McCaul sought Afghanistan-related documents in January after becoming chairman of the house panel. The State Department, however, has not yet granted the request.
On the other hand, State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said it would be a rare step for any secretary to hand over the classified documents to Congress.
During the massive evacuation effort in August 2021, 13 US service members were killed in bombings at the Kabul airport.
In a confidential cable through a so-called dissent channel, US diplomats in Afghanistan sent warned Blinken in July 2021 of the imminent fall of Kabul to the Taliban.
PAN Monitor/mud
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