WASHINGTON (AP) – The Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee is threatening to push a legislative effort to hold Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt of Congress next week if he doesn’t release a classified cable sent by diplomats North- Americans in Kabul shortly before the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, told reporters Monday that the House Foreign Affairs Committee could vote on the contempt charges at a May 24 hearing.
The State Department has said it is trying to provide Congress with “adequate” information about the cable while protecting its employees. The so-called dissent channel has for decades provided a way for diplomats to quietly voice their concerns about strategy. They are automatically classified to protect the identities of Foreign Service officials.
McCaul has fought for months with the Biden administration to gain unprecedented access to the messages as part of a broader Republican investigation into the 2021 recall. It has raised the prospect of a constitutional showdown over the legislature’s ability to carry out supervision.
The State Department has previously briefed McCaul on the content of the cables, but he said he was not satisfied. With their majority in the House, Republicans have launched a series of investigations into the Biden administration, including its withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“I want to see the original content and I also want to see the secretary’s response,” McCaul told reporters. “It’s a mood in the embassy at the time, and to have 23 dissidents is very significant.”
The vast majority of the 123 cables sent since 1971, when the dissident channel was created during the Vietnam War, have remained classified, according to the National Security Archives at George Washington University. The State Department has long protected the cables from public release.
McCaul said he expected the State Department to respond to his earlier threats with a letter Thursday. I was hoping it was a “counteroffer”.
A contempt of Congress charge would require a full committee vote before going to the House. With Republicans’ slim majority in the chamber, it’s possible the vote to hold Blinken in contempt could pass the chamber. The indictment does not have the force of prosecution, but serves as a referral to the Department of Justice to consider charges.
___
AP Writer Farnoush Amiri and AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report.
