US Secretary of State Antony Blinken summoned to testify on troop withdrawal from Afghanistan

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will have to testify before the US House Foreign Affairs Committee on September 24. (Source: Bloomberg)

In a statement on September 18, the Committee said that if Secretary Blinken does not appear, Committee Chairman Michael McCaul will convene a plenary meeting to draft a report, recommending that the US House of Representatives find Mr. Blinken in contempt of Congress for violating a lawful subpoena.

According to Reuters news agency, in May, Mr. McCaul asked Secretary of State Blinken to appear at a hearing on September 19 to explain the investigation related to the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

In a letter to the then-Secretary of State, the Republican chairman said that current and former State Department officials confirmed that Mr. Blinken was the “ultimate decision maker” on troop withdrawal and evacuation.

However, earlier this month, the US State Department said Mr. Blinken could not arrange to testify on the dates requested by the Committee, but had proposed “reasonable alternatives.”

The request for a summons comes as the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan becomes a complicated issue ahead of the US presidential election on November 5.

A US State Department spokesman said Secretary of State Blinken has testified before Congress on the Afghanistan issue more than 14 times, including four times before the above Committee.

The Department has also provided the Committee with nearly 20,000 pages of records, numerous high-level reports and interviews related to the issue.