Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki may no longer be part of the Biden administration but that doesn’t mean she is completely free of potential legal obligations linked to her time there. A leading Republican lawmaker is threatening to send her a subpoena to appear before his committee if she refuses to show up voluntarily.
The former chief spokesperson for President Joe Biden finds herself in a difficult position following a request from Republican Texas Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) to clarify her role in the discussions preceding the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. The swift exit garnered international criticism, as heart-wrenching images of civilians clinging to the wheels of departing aircraft inundated screens across the globe.
In a letter sent to Psaki’s lawyer, Emily Loeb, McCaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, mentioned that Psaki is a private citizen who recently published a book about her time in the Biden White House. In the book, Psaki falsely claimed that Biden never looked at his watch during the dignified transfer ceremony for American soldiers killed in Kabul in 2021.
“Your client Jen Psaki has failed to adequately respond to my letter dated May 21, 2024, requesting that she appear before the Committee for a transcribed interview relating to my investigation into the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. As you know, I requested a response from Ms. Psaki by May 28, 2024, which has now passed. Your client’s disregard for my request is an affront to this Committee and the U.S. House of Representatives,” McCaul wrote in the letter.
“I have reviewed the email that was addressed to my staff on May 28, 2024. I am troubled by your and Ms. Psaki’s stated ‘deference’ to outdated ‘concerns’ from the White House Counsel’s Office. Further, Ms. Psaki is a private citizen, who has published her insight into the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan for public consumption and personal profit. Ms. Psaki’s duty to appear before Congress is manifest, and her former employer’s desire to avoid congressional oversight is not relevant,” McCaul continued, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Daily Caller.
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This is part of the committee’s investigation into the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, during which 13 U.S. military personnel were killed when an ISIS-K terrorist detonated a suicide bomb outside the airport in Kabul where evacuations were being conducted. Nearly 200 Afghan civilians were also killed in the attack. He offered three specific dates for Psaki to come in and testify before the committee: June 26, 2024; July 9, 2024; or July 23, 2024. “McCaul called for a response about her availability for a transcribed interview no later than Wednesday, June 12, 2024, at 5:00 pm ET,” the DC reported.
Psaki was widely fact-checked for claiming that Biden did not check his watch during the dignified transfer, despite this action being captured on camera and extensively reported at the time.
