Members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee plan to hoist charges of contempt of Congress on Secretary of State Antony Blinken after he failed to acknowledge a subpoena to testify regarding the failed U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) had booked a review and analysis for September 19 to discuss the issue, and vote on referring charges to the DOJ. His press release elaborated on how Blinken failed to appear the previous week after being subpoenaed.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told corporate press outlets that Blinken has testified repeatedly before Congress and they were disappointed to see yet another request. No word on how the families of the 13 men and women killed during a suicide bomb attack on the Kabul airport felt about Blinken being asked to explain himself yet again.
Previous analysis suggested that the Biden administration bungled the withdrawal completely with some suggesting that there was no plan at all until the Taliban began conquering territories.
Miller told the corporate press that the subpoena was “unnecessary” and that his boss had already testified several times. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) also suggested the calls to hold Blinken in contempt were “bogus,” and suggested that there was no evidence Blinken had done anything wrong.
Former Trump administration official Steve Bannon was awarded jail time for failing to appear before Congress when subpoenaed.
Whether or not the contempt charges will be referred to the DOJ is a good question as Congress is currently occupied, yet again, debating funding bills to keep the federal government running. They have until October 1 to pass funding before it runs out. Congress is then anticipated to take a break until after the November elections.
Dem. Rep. Ro Khanna (CA) previously told corporate press outlets that no one is perfect in an attempt to rationalize the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. He attempted to give the administration, including Vice President Kamala Harris, credit for ending the war while deflecting from the deadly mistakes.
