US House members will visit State Department to view Afghanistan dissent cable

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul and Ranking Member Gregory Meeks will visit the US State Department on Tuesday to privately view a classified cable related to the August 2021 US withdrawal from Afghanistan, department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

“They accepted that offer and it is our understanding that they will visit the Department today to review the cable and the response,” Miller said in a press briefing.

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McCaul is investigating the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Republicans, and some Democrats, say there has never been a full accounting of the chaotic operation, in which 13 US service members were killed at Kabul’s airport.

McCaul has for months been seeking a “dissent channel” cable sent in July 2021 that a Wall Street Journal article in August 2021 said warned top officials of the potential collapse of Kabul soon after the withdrawal of US troops.

The State Department last week said it would let McCaul and Meeks view a redacted version of the cable to protect the identity of those using its “dissent channel,” which allows State Department officials to air concerns to supervisors.

In late March, McCaul issued a subpoena to be delivered to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken asking him to produce the cable. Following the State Department’s invitation to view the cable on site, he said he would pause the subpoena.

Making the cable available for McCaul and Meeks to review it in private was “extraordinary accommodation” on behalf of the State Department, spokesperson Miller said.

“We believe that ought to satisfy our obligation to provide them with the information that they need. But we will continue to engage with them” about the issue, he said.

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