(IntegrityTimes.com) – Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki may be facing a congressional subpoena by the House Foreign Affairs Committee tasked with investigating the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
On Tuesday May 21 the Committee Chairman, Republican Texas Representative Michael McCaul sent a letter requesting Psaki appear before the committee for a transcribed interview. McCaul has characterized Psaki’s failure to cooperate with the committee so far as obstructing the investigation.
The withdrawal from began in February 2020 when the Taliban signed a deal with the U.S. agreeing to not allow terrorist groups to operate in Afghanistan. They promised to commit to counter-terrorism. In return, America promised to remove all troops from Afghanistan. This was undertaken in stages. Throughout the long and complicated process, it was clear that the Taliban were not honoring their part of the agreement. The final withdrawal of U.S. troops August 30, 2021, was marked by violence. In the aftermath, the Taliban were left with more than $7 billion worth of weapons and equipment.
The final withdrawal resulted in the deaths of the deaths of 170 Afghan civilians and 13 U.S. service members. There were also 15 service members injured. President Biden came under fire for what many regarded as a botched withdrawal. Then, at a dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force base in Delaware, Biden was seen, and photographed, checking his watch. Families of the slain service members, and many other Americans were outraged over the percieved lack of respect. Psaki, who was at the time still the White House Press Secretary, publicly denied that the watch check had even happened. In her recent memoir, she repeated the debunked statement that the incident was “misinformation”.
Psaki has agreed to amend digital copies and future print copies of her book to remove the implication that the infamous watch check didn’t happen. McCaul says that Psaki may have “key insights” in the committee’s investigation regarding the disastrous American exit from Afghanistan in August 2021. He commented that in her role of communicating for the White House she advanced narratives that were proven to be false. The committee has proposed three different dates for Psaki to be interviewed, but McCaul says they can and will use a congressional subpoena if she does not comply.
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