GOP rep claims in Ingraham exclusive Afghan evacuees held at Va. base 'leave in Ubers'; sent letter to Blinken
U.S. Rep. Mark Green claims a source informed him refugees were picked up by Ubers without permission to leave the base
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Tennessee congressman who is also an Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran sent a letter to the State Department demanding answers after a source informed his office evacuees being held at a Virginia military base have had "free rein" of the campus and have allegedly been leaving the base using ride-hailing apps without restraint from officials, Fox News has learned.
Rep. Mark Green, a Republican who represents part of Middle Tennessee, exclusively told "The Ingraham Angle" of his letter addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday after a source with knowledge of the situation made the allegations to his office.
Green wrote Blinken asking for information regarding allegations that Afghan evacuees being held at Fort Pickett who are not fully vetted "basically have free rein of the complex and have even been allowed to leave despite not having completed the vetting process."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FORT MCCOY HIT BY CASE OF MEASLES AMID AFGHAN REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT EFFORT
He claimed soldiers at Fort Pickett, located between Petersburg and South Boston, have no authority to "arrest or stop" any of the evacuees from leaving the base on their own free will, regardless of vetting status.
"My source has made shocking allegations," Green wrote. Among the allegations mentioned, Green wrote "several evacuees have been picked up by Uber drivers without any permission from authorities, or being cleared to leave."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Green called upon his combat service in Afghanistan to request confirmation or denial of the allegations made by the source, telling Blinken they pose an obvious national security risk.
The State Department has not been able to provide a breakdown of evacuees, pertaining to how many are interpreters who aided the U.S. military, how many are other SIV holders, and how many are simply Afghan citizens seeking to escape the ruthless Taliban rule.
Green told host Laura Ingraham that the issues are happening elsewhere than just Fort Pickett, and that the Pentagon is not necessarily to blame in this specific regard because they are essentially taking direction from Foggy Bottom.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"[T]he State Department is failing to give [the Pentagon] adequate information… They don't know exactly how many [evacuees] are even there. So they can't account for someone if they don't return," he said.
"And they are telling the people if you go and you don't come back, that will end your Visa processing. If they want free, they are gone. There is nobody keeping them from leaving."
Ingraham later added that the news conflicts with comments from Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who said evacuees are going through several levels of databases to determine their validity for transportation to America.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We don't have biometrics on a good portion of these people and we can't really get information from State because they won't provide names … They won't even tell us how many American citizens they evacuated. We tried to get that number requested through the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) the other day and I could not get that past. It is just crazy. This State Department is a complete failure."
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"We have no way of knowing who they are and we've had talks with people who are saying they know Taliban is in some of these flights. So this is one of the greatest security risks this nation has ever had and this president and this State Department don't seem to care," he concluded.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}When contacted by Fox News, the State Department said as a general matter it does not comment on communications with Congress.