US House subpoenas Blinken over Afghanistan withdrawal
Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a joint press conference with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy in the Locarno room at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in London, Britain, September 10, 2024. (Reuters Photo
The U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee subpoenaed Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday to appear before it on Sept. 24 over the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
“If Secretary Blinken fails to appear, the chairman will proceed instead with a full committee markup of a report recommending the U.S. House of Representatives find Secretary Blinken in contempt of Congress for violating a duly issued subpoena,” according to a statement from the committee.
The committee had previously wanted Blinken to appear on Sept. 19. The State Department said earlier this month that Blinken was not available to testify on the proposed dates but has suggested “reasonable alternatives.”
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters on Wednesday.
The Republican-led committee has been investigating the deadly and chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan for years and an appearance next week before lawmakers by Blinken over a heavily politicized issue would come just weeks before the Nov. 5 election.
Blinken has testified before Congress on Afghanistan more than 14 times, including four times before the committee, and the State Department has provided the committee with nearly 20,000 pages of records, multiple high-level briefings and transcribed interviews, a department spokesperson said earlier in September.
