McCaul Accepts State Department Offer to View Afghan Dissent Cable, Pauses Subpoena Enforcement

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) speaks at a bipartisan news conference, on the Afghanistan evacuations, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Aug. 25, 2021. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) has accepted the State Department’s offer to view a dissent cable from the time of the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

During a May 17 briefing at the State Department, after months of back-and-forth tensions, Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson, said the department sent a letter to the committee on May 17. The letter contained an offer for McCaul and the committee’s ranking member, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), “to view the dissent cable at the State Department in camera, with appropriate personal information redacted.”