House Panel Warns Jen Psaki: Testify or Face Subpoena

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul reiterated his threat to subpoena Jen Psaki in a letter he sent to the former White House press secretary’s lawyer on Wednesday after she failed to respond to an original request to appear for a transcribed interview as part of the panel’s investigation into the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Daily Caller reported.

McCaul, a Texas Republican, noted in the letter that Psaki is a private citizen who recently published a book about her time in the Biden White House that includes the false claim that President Joe Biden never looked at his watch during the transfer ceremony for the 13 American soldiers killed in Kabul in 2021 during the withdrawal.

“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,” McCaul wrote in the letter. “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 added: “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 Psaki’s stated ‘deference’ to outdated ‘concerns’ from the White House Counsel’s Office.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.”

The committee chairman gave three dates for Psaki to testify before the committee (June 26, July 9, or July 23) and called for a response about her availability for a transcribed interview no later than June 12 at 5 p.m. ET, according to the Daily Caller.

The Biden administration has defended the way it carried out the Afghanistan withdrawal, which resulted in the killing of 13 U.S. service members and nearly 200 Afghan civilians when an ISIS-K terrorist set out a suicide bomb outside the Kabul airport where evacuations were taking place.

An investigation by the Pentagon into the bombing concluded that the attack was “not preventable,” despite first-hand witness testimony alleging that the attacker could have been stopped.