Republicans accuse Biden administration of COVER-UP as they launch inquiry ... trends now
A senior House Republican accused the Biden administration of obstructing reviews of its withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying on Wednesday it had not answered crucial questions about the chaotic evacuation and its planning.
Rep. James Comer wrote to the secretary of defense, secretary of state, the White House national security adviser, the homeland security secretary and the USAID administrator demanding information — and gave them until December 20 to respond.
He said the administration had classified more and more files to hide problems at the end of the war and demanded that they be declassified.
And he said the administration was also obstructing a key inspector general, who had repeatedly warned of mistakes being made by U.S. officials.
The U.S. withdrawal and Taliban takeover triggered chaotic scenes at Kabul airport. In one iconic photo, an infant is seen being handed to a U.S. Marine. House Republicans are demanding answers from the Biden administration about what went wrong
Rep. James Comer, the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee, set out a string of questions he wants the Biden administration to answer about the withdrawal from Afghanistan
In his letters, Comer, who is expected to take over as chairman of the Oversight Committee when Republicans take over the House in the new year, laid out a series of targets for an investigation.
They include the decision to abandon Bagram air base and what contingency plans were in place for an evacuation in the event of a Taliban takeover.
Republicans want to know why the rapid advance of the Taliban, and the fragility of the Kabul government, was not predicted.
'It has been over a year since the Biden administration's botched Afghanistan withdrawal and the American people have not received any answers about this national security and humanitarian catastrophe,' said Comer.
'U.S. servicemen and women lost their lives, thousands of Americans were abandoned, billions of taxpayer dollars are still unaccounted for, military equipment fell into the hands of the Taliban, progress for Afghan women has stalled, and the entire region is under hostile Taliban control.
'Under a Republican majority, the Biden administration’s obstruction of this investigation
