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Oversight Democrats Call Out Republican Efforts to Whitewash Former President Trump’s Role in the Collapse of Afghan Government

April 20, 2023

Democrats Call for Bipartisan Support of Inspectors General, Urge Congressional Action to Support Humanitarian Aid to Afghan Allies after Decades of War

Washington, D.C. (April 20, 2023)—Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, led Committee Democrats in demanding that Committee Republicans conduct serious, fact-based oversight of the 20-year war in Afghanistan by examining the panoply of events that contributed to the collapse of the Afghan government and its security forces across four presidential administrations, including under former President Trump.

"The Afghan War cost the lives of more than 2,400 American servicemembers, 3,846 private contractors, more than 1,100 allied servicemembers, more than 66,000 Afghan national military and police, and 47,245 Afghan civilians, without even getting into the Taliban side. Understanding what led to collapse of the Afghan government and its security forces is vitally important, but it requires looking comprehensively at the dynamics of this massive, decades-long military and nation-building failure—not just the last few months of it," said Ranking Member Raskin in his opening statement.

The hearing included testimony from John Sopko, Inspector General, U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction; Robert Storch, Inspector General, U.S. Department of Defense; Nicole Angarella, Acting Deputy Inspector General, U.S. Agency for International Development; and Diana Shaw, Acting Inspector General, U.S. Department of State.

Committee Democrats demonstrated that Republicans have ignored their role, and that of the Trump Administration, in the collapse of the Afghan government.

  • In response to questioning from Ranking Member Raskin, Inspector General Sopko confirmed that President Trump's decision to enter into the Trump-Taliban Agreement after excluding the Afghan government from negotiations, "undercut the morale of the average Afghan soldier and the average Afghan civilian."
  • In response to questioning from Ranking Member Raskin, Inspector General Sopko confirmed that then-Secretary of State Pompeo pressured the Afghan government to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners, including terrorists who subsequently participated in attacks, by threatening to withhold aid.
  • In response to Rep. Melanie Stansbury's question about whether President Trump's failure to ensure the Taliban upheld its obligations under the Trump-Taliban Agreement contributed to the collapse of the humanitarian infrastructure in Afghanistan, Acting Inspector General Angarella stated, "it certainly increased the challenges for delivering the humanitarian assistance."

Committee Democrats underscored how Republicans' narrow focus on the last seven months of a 20-year war reveals that the hearing was convened for partisan purposes rather than to pursue legitimate oversight.

  • When Rep. Dan Goldman questioned whether meaningful oversight of the 20-year war in Afghanistan could be accomplished by only focusing on events that occurred after President Biden assumed office in January 2021, Inspector General Sopko responded, "No" and explained "We had years of problems which put into context why the Trump Administration made a certain decision and why the Biden Administration made a certain decision."
  • In explaining that the decades-long war in Afghanistan cannot be effectively examined by ignoring 231 months of the 238 month-war that occurred before President Biden took office, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly said: "Decisions and events that took place had history. They had context; they had antecedents. Some of my friends on the other side want to pretend history never existed—it all started when Kabul fell on someone else's watch. But that did not happen in a vacuum."
  • Rep. Jared Moskowitz accused Committee Republicans of hypocrisy by failing to ask a single question about the impact of the Trump Administration's decision to include as a term of the Trump-Taliban Agreement the release 5,000 Taliban prisoners, many of whom rejoined the Taliban armed offensive.

Committee Democrats called for Congressional action to support the Biden-Harris Administration's ongoing efforts to resettle Afghan partners, provide humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, and counter regional terrorist threats.

  • Rep. Becca Balint highlighted the Biden-Harris Administration's efforts to resettle over 100,000 Afghans following the United States withdrawal and called on Congressional Republicans to join Democrats in passing legislation to improve the program, stating: "Our partners deserve better. This is not acceptable. I ask my Republican colleagues to recognize the urgency of this effort and join Democrats in passing a bipartisan Afghan Adjustment Act that will make good to these people who risked their lives alongside of our servicemen and women."
  • In response to Rep. Summer Lee's question regarding the Taliban's attacks on basic rights of Afghan women and girls, including its decision to ban women from working with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Acting Deputy Inspector General Angarella explained: "It's undeniable that the inability for women aid workers—first with NGOs who were banned in December and, more recently with U.N. partners—is having a significant impediment to being able to provide services at all to women for healthcare, for food, and for education."

Building on Committee Democrats' longstanding commitment to supporting SIGAR's independent oversight of U.S.-funded assistance to Afghanistan, Ranking Member Raskin and Rep. Stephen Lynch called on Committee Republicans to join Committee Democrats in requesting that federal departments and agencies fully cooperate with SIGAR's requests for information to carry out its mandate, consistent with their cooperation with their own inspectors general.

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