US House committee recommends contempt charge for Blinken

By Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A Republican-led U.S. congressional committee recommended on Tuesday that Secretary of State Antony Blinken be held in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena seeking information about the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee voted 26-25 in favor of a report recommending that the full House find Blinken in contempt after he did not appear at a hearing on Tuesday morning on the withdrawal.

Every yes vote came from Republicans and every Democrat voted no, reflecting deep political divisions over the chaotic evacuation of Americans and Afghans who worked with them.

Blinken, who is in New York for the U.N. General Assembly, said in a letter on Sunday to the committee's chairman, Republican Representative Michael McCaul, that he had tried to reach an accommodation on when he would be available to testify and offered alternative witnesses.

McCaul said before the vote that Blinken had declined to appear any time this month. "I offered any day in September, just a few hours in September. The Secretary couldn't find one day, he couldn't find one hour to come before the United States Congress," McCaul said.

In a statement, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller called the panel's action "a naked political exercise."

"The State Department made clear in repeated communications with the committee that he is willing to testify again, but was unavailable to do so today because he is engaged in high level diplomacy at the United Nations General Assembly," Miller said.

McCaul denied he was motivated by politics.

The U.S. contempt of Congress statute outlines a process for the House or Senate to refer a non-compliant witness for criminal prosecution. Ultimately, the Justice Department decides whether to bring criminal charges.

The full House has not scheduled a vote on the committee's recommendation.

McCaul released a report on Sept 8 on the committee Republicans' investigation of the Afghanistan withdrawal, blasting Democratic President Joe Biden's administration for failures surrounding the evacuation three years earlier.

The issue has become intensely politicized ahead of the presidential election on Nov 5.

Last month, the Republican candidate, former President Donald Trump, drew criticism for shooting video for his campaign at Arlington National Cemetery where he appeared at a ceremony honoring troops killed in the evacuation.

Trump also has sought to pin blame for the withdrawal on Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic opponent.

The State Department said Blinken has testified before Congress on Afghanistan more than 14 times, including four times before the committee, and the State Department has provided the committee with nearly 20,000 pages of records, multiple high-level briefings and transcribed interviews.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Bill Berkrot)