Michael McCaul requests interviews with five officials on Afghanistan withdrawal
Ryan King
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House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) requested transcribed interviews with five officials regarding the Afghanistan withdrawal.
“Through our ongoing investigation, we have determined these five individuals have important information that is critical to uncovering how and why the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan resulted in the deaths of 13 U.S. service members and the injury of 47 more,” McCaul wrote.
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The five officials include Jonathan Mennuti, former acting chief of staff to acting Undersecretary of State for Management Carol Perez; Mark Evans, former acting deputy assistant secretary for Afghanistan; James DeHart, former lead on the Afghanistan Task Force; Jayne Howell, Bureau of Consular Affairs; and former Ambassador Daniel Smith.
Smith led a State Department’s review of the tumultuous withdrawal from Afghanistan.
McCaul sent letters on Friday to ask the five individuals to appear for a transcribed interview. He is seeking to have them “contact the committee to arrange” the interviews by May 22.
“It is crucial they speak with the committee without delay. As we continue to gather evidence, the Committee will continue to interview additional current and former administration officials involved in the planning and execution of the withdrawal,” he added.
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Since taking the reins of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, McCaul has criticized the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Back in March, he subpoenaed the State Department to furnish the Kabul dissent cable, which was signed by over two dozen members of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, slamming the administration’s preparations for withdrawal.
McCaul has inched closer to holding Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt for defying that demand. The dissent cable came on July 13, 2021, and preceded the Taliban’s toppling of the United States-backed Afghanistan government the following month.