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Washington, D.C. – House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul has signed a subpoena that was delivered to Secretary of State Antony Blinken this morning for the “Afghanistan AAR files,” the collection of underlying documents used to produce the State Department’s After-Action Review (AAR). While the department has produced two of the three items requested by Chairman McCaul on June 8, it has repeatedly failed to produce the Afghanistan AAR files by the committee’s deadlines in the face of McCaul’s warning that continued noncompliance would result in the initiation of compulsory process. Despite repeated requests dating back to January 2023, the department has refused to produce the Afghanistan AAR files to the committee, impeding its efforts to obtain transparency and accountability for the American people. For these reasons, the committee has been forced, by the department’s obstruction, to issue a subpoena. The files must be produced by 10:00 am ET on Tuesday, July 25. 

McCaul signing the subpoena 

“I have repeatedly asked for documents from the Biden administration’s chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal,” said the chairman. “The department’s continued refusal to produce files relating to the After-Action Review is another blatant attempt to hide the Biden administration’s culpability in the chaotic and deadly evacuation from Afghanistan. I have no choice but to issue a subpoena.” 

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