The subpoena from Rep. Michael McCaul, of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, intensifies a dispute over the Biden administration’s exit from Afghanistan.
McLaurine Pinover, a spokeswoman for McCaul, said the subpoena for the cable, which was sent via a “dissent channel” that allows employees to convey information to senior agency leaders that differs from those of other department officials, was transmitted Tuesday morning.Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking to lawmakers last week, indicated his unwillingness to provide Congress the cable because, he said, it could discourage workers from using the channel in the future.
“The department followed up with the committee to reiterate its willingness to provide a briefing about the concerns raised and the challenges identified by Embassy Kabul, including in the dissent channel,” State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a statement. “The committee chose instead to issue a subpoena.
“I will say that it’s difficult to square what might be the legitimate policy-based rationale of the department to preserve the dissent channel with Congress’s oversight responsibilities and its need for information from the department,” Finucane said of the current standoff. The senior Democrat on the committee, Rep. Gregory W. Meeks , told Blinken last week that he had also requested the cable last year.
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