US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has agreed to testify publicly at a House committee hearing on the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, the committee said on Tuesday, after a long dispute with the Republican-led committee.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul said Blinken had pledged to appear at a public hearing on December 11 to discuss the committee’s investigation into the withdrawal three years ago.
The committee and the State Department have been arguing over Blinken’s appearance for months. Republican members of the committee voted last September to recommend that Blinken be held in contempt of Congress for not complying with the subpoena.
The State Department confirmed that the committee was provided with large amounts of information, as Blinken testified before Congress regarding Afghanistan more than 14 times and the department provided nearly 20,000 pages of records, multiple high-level briefings and written interviews.
McCaul issued a report on September 8 on the Republican committee’s investigation into the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, criticizing the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden for failures surrounding the evacuation.
This issue has become intensely politicized ahead of the presidential elections on November 5. In his successful bid to win a second term, former Republican President Donald Trump drew criticism for filming a campaign video at Arlington National Cemetery where he appeared at a ceremony honoring soldiers killed in the 2013 evacuation.
Trump also sought to blame the withdrawal on his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Democrats insist that some of the blame for the war’s chaotic end — less than seven months into Biden’s presidency — must fall on Trump, who began the withdrawal process by signing a deal with the Taliban in 2020.
The issue may become more politicized after Trump returns to the White House on January 20, after he spoke during his election campaign about firing those responsible for the withdrawal from Afghanistan.