Scoop: Jen Psaki agrees to Afghanistan probe interview
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Jen Psaki at an appearance in New York in May. Photo: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
President Biden's former press secretary Jen Psaki will sit for an interview this month in the House Foreign Affairs Committee's probe into the U.S. military's exit from Afghanistan, according to a letter from her lawyer to the panel obtained by Axios.
Why it matters: Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chair of the committee, is set to release a report on Biden's U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan before the Nov. 5 election.
- It could contain politically damaging information about the withdrawal, which included the deaths of 13 U.S. soldiers in a bombing at the Kabul airport.
- The panel's probe has unearthed inconsistencies between what Biden and the White House were saying publicly and what was happening on the ground.
Driving the news: Psaki, now with MSNBC, agreed to an interview after a lengthy back-and-forth that started last fall — and once McCaul made clear he was willing to subpoena her to appear.
- The committee likely will press Psaki on any potential differences between what the White House knew privately and what it was saying publicly through the communications offices.
McCaul originally contacted Psaki's team in September of 2023 and engaged in some squabbling with it and the White House counsel's office.
- McCaul's team did not re-up his request for several months until Axios reported in May that Psaki had falsely recounted a key episode of the withdrawal in her recent memoir.
Zoom in: Psaki's lawyer wrote to McCaul last week to say the former press secretary would appear for an interview on July 26.
- The two sides had quarreled over arranging for the White House to give permission to Psaki.
- On June 24, the White House counsel's office wrote McCaul that his request "raises serious separation-of-powers and Executive Branch confidentiality issues."
- But "as an extraordinary accommodation, we will authorize Ms. Psaki to participate in a voluntary transcribed interview accompanied by personal counsel and the White House counsel's office subject to appropriate terms and conditions for the interview."
- Psaki and her lawyer declined to comment further.
Zoom out: The McCaul probe has unveiled new information about infighting and contradictions among top Biden officials as U.S. forces exited America's longest war.
- U.S. generals have publicly blamed the State Department for mistakes in the withdrawal.
- "The fundamental mistake, the fundamental flaw was the timing of the State Department," former Joint Chiefs chair Gen. Mark Milley said. "That was too slow and too late."
The inquiry has also undermined Biden's claims at the time of the exit.
- Under repeated questioning, Biden told ABC News in 2021 that "no one" suggested he should keep 2,500 troops in Afghanistan, but Milley told the committee he'd advised the president to keep that number of troops there.
