A House Republican is calling on the State Department to allow further access to the July 2021 Dissent Channel cable on the military withdrawal from Afghanistan.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) has asserted that for the State Department to fully comply with the March 28 subpoena from his committee, they must allow all committee members to access the document.
Only McCaul and Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), ranking member of the committee, have had access to the cable, which the State Department provided on May 23.
“I strongly urge you to do the right thing and provide access to the documents to all Committee members and to the American people,” wrote McCaul.
According to the chairman, after reviewing the cable, he “unequivocally states” that the summary and briefing from the State Department were “not an adequate substitute” for members of his committee having actual access to the documents: “I believe it is essential that every one of the Committee’s Members—Democrat and Republican—have the same opportunity that Ranking Member Meeks and I did to review them.”
McCaul asserted that the original cable makes it clear what officials were made aware of before making the decision of when and how to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.
He also referred to the March subpoena to the State Department, saying that in order to comply with the subpoena and in the interest of allowing his committee their appropriate oversight into the international movements of the executive branch, the State Department is required to allow the committee access to the documents.
“The Department waited nearly two years after the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal to provide just two Members of Congress with access to documents showing the dire warnings by career officials that went unheeded, with tragic consequences,” McCaul said in his letter.
“On this Memorial Day, all Americans—particularly Afghanistan veterans and Gold Star families—deserve a full and complete accounting of the Administration’s actions.
“Based on my review of the documents, I do not believe there is an adequate basis for them to be classified or that their release would have any negative impact on national security. To the contrary, their release would be [the] first step in restoring Americans’ trust with the Administration’s foreign policy decisions.”
A spokesperson for the State Department told The Epoch Times, “As we’ve continued to say, and as Congressman Meeks confirmed, the written summary and the extended briefing provided to the committee accurately reflects the Dissent Channel cable.
“Taking the step of allowing Chairman and Ranking Member to view the cable, despite the risk it will compromise the purpose of the Dissent Channel, was an extraordinary accommodation, which we believe resolves the matter.”
