The head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee has warned former White House press secretary Jen Psaki that she should submit to an interview about the botched US pullout from Afghanistan — or face a subpoena after the now-MSNBC host discussed the debacle in her recent book.
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) released a letter to Psaki’s attorney Wednesday noting he had initially requested an interview in September last year, which had been shot down by President Biden’s White House counsel — despite Psaki leaving government service in May 2022.
“Ms. Psaki was charged with communicating the withdrawal to the American people and possesses key insights into the planning and decision-making regarding the Afghanistan withdrawal, the rapid Taliban takeover, and the evacuation of American citizens and Afghan allies,” McCaul wrote to the former press secretary’s counsel, Emily Loeb.
“Ms. Psaki unfortunately advanced narratives regarding the withdrawal and evacuation that my investigation has proven untrue,” the Texan added.
“The Committee will not tolerate Ms. Psaki’s continued obstruction of its critical investigation,” McCaul’s letter to Loeb concluded, “and is prepared to use all the tools at its disposal to ensure America’s representatives speak with her.”
The Committee is expected to release a comprehensive report this summer on the bugout, which was marred by poor planning, rushed execution and an ISIS-K suicide bombing at Kabul’s international airport that killed 13 US service members and hundreds of Afghans amid the backdrop of the Taliban’s takeover after 20 years out of power.
Psaki was thrust into the headlines over Afghanistan earlier this month after she was forced to correct a claim in her tome “Say More” that Biden did not check his watch during the dignified transfer ceremony for the murdered Americans at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
“It is troubling,” McCaul wrote Tuesday, “that Ms. Psaki seeks to profit off the Afghanistan tragedy, and has felt comfortable writing accounts and making them available to the general public, but refuses to make herself available to Congress, the branch dedicated to representing the interest and will of the American people.”
“Given that the Biden White House publicly supported Congressional interviews of former Trump officials,” the Republican went on, “I fail to understand why Ms. Psaki insists on a double standard, now rejecting similar calls for accountability, unless it is her contention that the deaths of Americans and allies are not extraordinary circumstances.”
McCaul asked for Psaki to appear on one of three dates for an interview — June 12, June 26 or July 9 — and finalize arrangements by May 28.
Psaki and Loeb did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
