Texas Representative might push for Blinken to be found in contempt of Congress

by mcardinal

Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News

  

Republican leadership has grown irritable in its quest to see a document that is believed to show American diplomatic workers criticizing the U.S. State Department’s evacuation of Kabul in 2021. 

As first reported by the Washington Examiner, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, believes Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his department are violating the law by not producing the so-called dissent cable.

McCaul subpoenaed the document in March, but the State Department has thus far not honored the demand. Now, the Texas congressman is leading the charge in favor of finding Blinken in contempt of Congress. 

“By refusing to comply with my subpoena and turn over the Afghanistan dissent cable, the State Department is now in violation of its legal obligation,” McCaul tweeted. “If they do not comply, @HouseForeignGOP  is prepared to hold Secretary Blinken in contempt of Congress.”

Blinken has, since the dissent cable’s existence became publicly known, argued that producing the document would prevent such communications from being issued in the future. 

“It is vital to me that we preserve the integrity of that process and that channel — that we not take any steps that could have a chilling effect on the willingness of others to come forward in the future,” Blinken wrote to McCaul in March. 

On Wednesday, McCaul appeared on CNN and told host Jake Tapper that he was prepared to push for a contempt charge if the dissent cable was not produced by the next day. 

This time has come and gone, but it is not yet clear if or when McCaul plans to escalate. 

“The committee has been more than reasonable in providing the State Department time to comply with my subpoena, as legally obligated,” the Washington Examiner quoted McCaul as saying. “If the department fails to do so, I am prepared to initiate contempt proceedings. This is not a decision I take lightly, but Congress and the American people, particularly our veterans and Gold Star Families, deserve answers on this catastrophic withdrawal.”

The dissent cable has been described as a document signed by two dozen members of the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan who warned Blinken and State Department Director of Policy Planning Salman Ahmed that the Afghanistan national army was failing, the Taliban was sweeping back into power, and that Kabul was devolving into chaos. 

While members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee have been given a summary of the cable, Republicans want the original item, one can safely assume at least partially for the purpose of memorializing in public the mess that was made by the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. 

To find Blinken in contempt, McCaul’s committee would have to approve such a motion, which would then be voted on by the entire House. 

A contempt of Congress finding is rare but has been utilized in relation to some high-profile individuals in recent years. 

From 2019-2021, the Democrat-controlled House voted in favor of holding four members of the Trump administration – Attorney General William Barr, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Acting Homeland Secretary Chad Wolf, and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows – as well as conservative commentator and former Trump strategist Steve Bannon in contempt. 

Barr, Ross, and Wolf were all charged after, in their capacity as cabinet members, refusing to comply with a subpoena. 

DONATE NOW