House GOP to subpoena Blinken over Afghanistan dissent cable
House Republicans plan to deliver a subpoena to Secretary of State Antony Blinken for classified cables related to the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.House Republicans plan to deliver a subpoena to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday for classified cables related to the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Rep. Mike McCaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told The Associated Press on Monday that he had spoken with Blinken earlier in the day when he was notified the agency would not be turning over a so-called dissent cable written by diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul shortly before the August 2021 withdrawal.
“We have made multiple good faith attempts to find common ground so we could see this critical piece of information,” McCaul, R-Texas, said in a statement. “Unfortunately, Secretary Blinken has refused to provide the Dissent Cable and his response to the cable, forcing me to issue my first subpoena as chairman of this committee.”
The July 2021 communication warned Blinken about the potential fall of Kabul via a special “dissent channel," which allows State Department officials to issue warnings or express contrarian views directly to senior agency officials, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
The effort to force the release of the cable is the latest in a series by McCaul and other House Republicans to hold the Biden administration accountable for what they have called a “stunning failure of leadership" after Taliban forces seized the Afghan capital, Kabul, far more rapidly than U.S. intelligence had foreseen as American forces pulled out.
Kabul’s fall turned the West’s withdrawal into a rout, with Kabul’s airport the center of a desperate air evacuation guarded by U.S. forces temporarily deployed for the task. A single explosive device that day killed at least 170 Afghan civilians and 13 American service members.
McCaul made the Afghanistan-related document requests in January, upon becoming chairman of the committee, but he faced pushback from the department as he pursued his investigation into the withdrawal.
State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters Monday that while he recognizes “the importance and the keen interest in this cable,” it would be a rare move for any secretary to turn over those documents to Congress.
“It is a unique way for anyone in the department to speak truth to power as they see it without fear or favor. And they do it by the regulations we have established for these cables in a privileged and confidential way,” Patel said. “It’s vital to us that we preserve the integrity of that process and of that channel.”
Since the Dissent Channel was created in 1971, in part to address U.S. diplomats’ concerns over the Vietnam War, the State Department has held communications closely. Nearly all such cables are classified to protect the integrity of the process and the identities of dissenting Foreign Service officers. They are not generally intended for public consumption, however, some have been leaked to the press, often by their authors.
According to the National Security Archives at George Washington University, at least 123 Dissent Channel cables have been sent since 1971. The vast majority of those have remained classified and the State Department has long objected to efforts to force their release.
The basic contents of some Dissent Channel cables have become public, including in the Afghanistan withdrawal case. One of its authors was given an award for “Constructive Dissent” in 2022 by the union that represents U.S. diplomats.
___
AP Diplomatic Writer Matt Lee contributed to this report.