He was subpoenaed to testify at a hearing on the Afghanistan withdrawal but didn’t appear due to U.N. engagements, though he said he’s willing to testify.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee will formally initiate contempt-of-Congress proceedings against Secretary of State Antony Blinken for failing to comply with its subpoena to appear for a Sept. 24 oversight hearing on the calamitous August 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal.
Committee Chair Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) opened the hearing, titled “An Assessment of the State Department’s Withdrawal from Afghanistan by America’s Top Diplomat,” by reading the full hearing notice and paused to silently emphasize that the witness table was empty.
“Unfortunately, the witness has chosen not to appear and to willfully defy the subpoena,” he said.
He adjourned the hearing to begin formal contempt proceedings against the secretary by presenting the House with a resolution calling for Blinken to be held in contempt of Congress.
None of this came as a surprise, as Blinken had already sent a five-page letter on Sept. 22 to the committee noting he’d be in New York attending President Joe Biden’s address to the U.N. General Assembly and was “profoundly disappointed” the committee could not offer alternatives other than a contempt proceeding.
Noting he’s testified about the Afghanistan withdrawal 14 times in congressional hearings, including four times before McCaul’s committee, Blinken said he’s spoken with McCaul several times since August and has “personally sought to reach an accommodation” and seeks only “good faith engagement” between the panel and his office.
“As I have made clear, I am willing to testify and have offered several reasonable alternatives to the dates unilaterally demanded by the committee during which I am carrying out the President’s important foreign policy objectives,” he wrote.
“On September 24 alone—the day you have asked me to appear—I will: represent the United States at the UN Security Council debate on the war in Ukraine, during which I will debate the Russian and Chinese foreign ministers; host alongside the President a leader-level meeting of the United States-led Global Coalition on Synthetic Drugs to fight the production and trafficking of fentanyl; accompany President Biden for his address to the General Assembly and his bilateral meeting with UN Secretary General Guterres; meet with foreign ministers in the Partnership for Global Infrastructure to secure commitments for the Lobito Corridor in Africa; and conduct several other bilateral and multilateral engagements.”
But in a series of exchanges since Sept. 17, McCaul said the secretary had been dodging the panel’s request for him to appear before it since May, prompting the panel to issue a Sept. 3 subpoena demanding Blinken testify for a fifth time before it.
“The committee has provided extraordinary accommodation in its multiple requests and communications seeking to finalize a date in line with your schedule,” McCaul wrote to Blinken in the subpoena. “To date, the department has yet to provide any potential dates for your appearance.”
The hearing was initially set for Sept. 19 but was rescheduled for Sept. 24 because Blinken was in Egypt and France.
The two-minute gavel-in-gavel-out affair is the latest in an 18-month Republican-led oversight foray into the United States’ chaotic August 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan that ended with 13 U.S. service members and more than 170 civilians killed in a terrorist attack at Hamad Karzai airport’s Abbey Gate in Kabul.
Earlier in September, House Republicans issued a 345-page report on the administration’s actions during the withdrawal.
McCaul wanted Blinken to testify on that report, which differed from previous investigations in that it placed the blame for the disastrous end of America’s longest war solely on the Biden administration.
“The committee is holding this hearing because the Department of State was central to the Afghanistan withdrawal and served as the senior authority during the August non-combatant evacuation operation (NEO),” McCaul wrote in the Sept. 3 request.
“As Secretary of State throughout the withdrawal and NEO, you were entrusted to lead these efforts and to secure the safe evacuation of Americans and Afghan allies. In testimony before the Committee, current and former State Department officials have confirmed that you served as the final decision-maker for the Department on the withdrawal and evacuation.
“You are therefore in a position to inform the Committee’s consideration of potential legislation aimed at helping prevent the catastrophic mistakes of the withdrawal, including potential reforms to the Department’s legislative authorization.”
The State Department’s After Action Report (AAR) published in June 2023 and the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction report released in October 2023 concluded that both the Trump and Biden administrations share responsibility for the withdrawal.
In a series of statements and exchanges between Sept. 17 and 19, the State Department said the panel was not “acting in good faith” in demanding Blinken appear while he’s engaged in talks to end the war between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza, knowing he would be unable to attend any congressional hearing between Sept. 23 and 27.
McCaul accused Blinken of being “disingenuous” in rejecting the panel’s request to testify before Congress recesses from Oct. 5 until after the November election. The State Department has not provided alternate dates on which he could appear during that time frame, he said.
“If we are forced to hold Secretary Blinken in contempt of Congress, he has no one to blame but himself,” McCaul said in a Sept. 19 statement.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller issued a statement late Tuesday afternoon calling the committee’s action “a naked political exercise masquerading as oversight, designed only to further the majority’s partisan interests under the guise of asking questions that have long ago been answered.”
He reiterated Sept. 17–19 comments that Blinken had testified before Congress on the Afghanistan withdrawal 14 times, including four times before the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
“The State Department made clear in repeated communications with the committee that he is willing to testify again, but was unavailable to do so today because he is engaged in high level diplomacy at the United Nations General Assembly, including participating in a UN Security Council session on Ukraine and leading a meeting of a global coalition to fight fentanyl trafficking,” Miller said.
McCaul “apparently believes it is in the nation’s interest to cede the diplomatic field to America’s adversaries, but we strongly disagree,” he added, saying the committee has moved forward “with a divisive, party-line vote.”
As defined by a 2017 Congressional Research Service analysis, “contempt power is the means by which Congress responds to certain acts that in its view obstruct the legislative process.”
Congress can vote to hold someone “in contempt” if they refuse to testify, provide requested information, or “obstruct a Congressional committee inquiry.”
Congress has exerted contempt authority as an “implied power” since 1795 even though it is not stipulated in the Constitution. They are either criminal or civil contempt citations.
The resolution essentially recommends Blinken be prosecuted for criminal contempt, although that would be a U.S. Department of Justice determination before it is presented for a chamber vote and passed along to the Senate.
The House in July adopted a resolution in a partisan vote holding Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt for refusing to turn over audio related to Biden’s handling of classified documents.
Like the Blinken contempt resolution, it is not likely to be heard from again until long after November’s elections and, should the GOP not retain control of the House, disappear in a Democrat-held chamber.
The Epoch Times reached out to the State Department for comment but didn’t receive a reply by publication time.