State Department sends more Afghanistan documents to Congress

The State Department on Thursday sent to congressional leaders a batch of 300 documents related to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan as House Republicans continue to probe the chaotic military retreat from the country in 2021.

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the documents came after a call with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who said he would start to produce more of the documents to the committee.

“I appreciate the secretary’s commitment to me to provide more regular document production going forward and hope he is true to his word on that,” McCaul said in a statement to The Hill. “Time is of the essence, and we owe our veterans and our Gold Star families answers.”

The documents are situational reports and memos from the Afghanistan Task Force, which was created in the summer of 2021 to coordinate efforts on evacuations and to bring Afghans to the U.S. with special immigrant visas.

The focus of the documents, which stretch from mid-July 2021 to the end of September 2021, is on evacuation efforts, and the documents include details on the number of people leaving Afghanistan each day.

Punchbowl News first reported the details of the documents.

McCaul is still demanding other, more detailed documents that review the Afghanistan withdrawal. They were not included in the latest batch, but the Foreign Affairs committee office believes there is progress being made with State officials.

Ahead of the document turnover, McCaul had sent a letter to the State Department demanding interviews by Aug. 21 with U.S. officials and the turnover of the documents by Aug. 16.

McCaul has investigated the hectic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan since taking lead of the committee in January, working to fulfill a promise from House Republicans to get Americans more answers on the events leading up to the pullout.

The U.S. began the withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of occupation, and the Taliban took Kabul on Aug. 15, 2021. In the retreat, 13 American service members died, and the military withdrawal was also criticized for poor evacuation planning and because troops left weapons and equipment behind for the Taliban.

The Biden administration has turned over dozens of documents, cables and reviews from the Afghanistan retreat, including a report that faulted both the Trump and Biden administrations for faulty planning and a lack of clear communication.