House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) on Thursday pressured Secretary of State Antony Blinken for unredacted documents related to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, threatening a subpoena if the requested materials aren\u2019t provided by next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Department must comply with each of the Committee\u2019s requests. As stated above, many of these requests date back to January 2023, and have gone without compliance. The Department has had ample time to fulfill these requests. We are giving the Department one week from today to provide the requested documents,\u201d McCaul wrote in a new letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Texas lawmaker notes that while the State Department has already provided some of the materials he\u2019d previously requested, \u201cthe productions contained significant redactions and omissions that are unacceptable\u201d to the Foreign Affairs Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRepeated requests to rectify these deficiencies have gone unfulfilled. If the Department fails to satisfy these requests\u201d by the deadline, McCaul wrote, \u201cI am prepared to proceed with compulsory process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The letter gives Blinken and his department until 5 p.m. June 15 to produce the requested materials \u201cin complete and unredacted form\u201d or else risk subpoena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Thursday letter is the latest of several actions in McCaul\u2019s effort to obtain information and materials related to the controversial U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Republicans made investigating the Biden administration\u2019s move a top priority ahead of the midterms, when they took the House majority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last month, McCaul threatened a vote on whether to hold Blinken in contempt of Congress if the State Department didn\u2019t give up a classified cable related to the withdrawal. Blinken agreed to let lawmakers listen to the cable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n