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State Dept responds to GOP push for Blinken's impeachment over Afghanistan crisis
By Sam Dorman
Published August 27, 2021
The State Department responded to calls for impeachment Friday by reaffirming Secretary Blinken's commitment to evacuating Americans from Afghanistan.
"Blinken is focused on one thing and one thing only: the evacuation of American citizens and our allies and partners," spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement provided to Fox News.
The response comes amid a flurry of criticism surrounding Blinken and other high-ranking national security officials after Thursday's attack at Hamid Karzai International Airport.
Earlier on Friday, Fox News reported that Reps. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., and Andy Harris, R-Md., had filed impeachment articles specifically for Blinken.
HOUSE REPUBLICANS INTRODUCING ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT FOR SECRETARY OF STATE BLINKEN
"Secretary Blinken has failed to faithfully uphold his oath and has instead presided over a reckless abandonment of our nation’s interests, security, and values in his role in the withdrawal of American forces and diplomatic assets from Afghanistan," reads the articles.
They add that "[i]n direct conflict with the intelligence and advice provided by his own diplomats and the intelligence community, Secretary Blinken failed to advise and counsel the President accordingly and did not inform the Congress nor American citizens at home and abroad of the dangers."
During a press briefing Friday, Price touted the U.S. government's ability to evacuate more than 100,000 individuals from the war torn country and committed to continuing those efforts.
Biden, on Thursday, told the nation that he took responsibility for the the fallout of his plan to pull out of Afghanistan, including the attack in Kabul. He also vowed to retaliate against those who perpetrated the attacks.
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"I bear responsibility for, fundamentally, all that’s happened of late," Biden said Thursday night.
"But here’s the deal: You know — I wish you’d one day say these things — you know as well as I do that the former President made a deal with the Taliban that he would get all American forces out of Afghanistan by May 1."
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/state-dept-response-blinken-impeachment