Republicans Postpone Antony Blinken’s Arrest for Contempt of Congress for Withholding Afghanistan Withdrawal Documents: Top Republican Michael McCaul Says He Had a Late Night Phone Call with Secretary Who Ultimately Agreed to Produce Documents

Republicans are delaying seeing Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt of Congress today after agreeing to produce the Afghanistan withdrawal documents they have been demanding for more than a year.

Chairman Michael McCaul, who is leading the investigation into the administration’s messy 2021 exit, announced last week that the House Foreign Affairs Committee would hold an increase on contempt articles on March 7.

But he told DailyMail.com an hour before the scheduled hearing Thursday that he had a “good conversation” with Blinken on the phone last night and said the secretary “agreed to produce the documents.”

“In the spirit of good faith negotiations, I have deferred the markup with the understanding that these documents will be produced. I was told we will pick them up this morning,” he added.

Republicans have asked the State Department for the AAR (after-action review) team’s interview notes of those most closely involved in the chaotic withdrawal.

They say it will help complete their investigation and shape legislation to prevent the “catastrophic mistakes” from ever happening again, by providing “access to the truth.”

McCaul brings along Christy Shamblin, the mother-in-law of Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee, one of thirteen US troops killed in the withdrawal, in President Biden’s State of the Union address tonight.

McCaul emphasized that the documents will provide “critical information” to the Republicans’ ongoing investigation, which will bring closure to Gold Star families like the Shamblins.

He threatened that contempt would still be on the table if the documents were not handed over.

“I take the secretary at his word that we will get all these documents. But if the situation changes, I will have to re-examine all our options to ensure they are produced.”

If successful, it will be the first time in American history that a secretary of state has been in contempt of Congress.

Last month, McCaul reiterated his previous threats to take legal action against Blinken, saying he was “obstructing” Congress’ many requests for documents.

“It is appalling that more than two years after the deadly and chaotic withdrawal, the Department continues to choose politics over policy,” McCaul wrote in a letter exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com in February.

Once again, he emphasized the “legislative need for these primary source documents.”

McCaul said department officials told his committee that Assistant Secretary for Management and Resources Rich Verma had “personally reviewed” the AAR notes.

But they say they are currently being withheld by the White House and National Security Council.

“The officials have been advised that this decision is now above their ‘salary level’,” he stated in the letter obtained by DailyMail.com.

Republicans are still pushing to hold the Biden administration accountable after the hasty exodus from Afghanistan in 2021, in which 13 U.S. service members and at least 170 Afghans were killed.

Furthermore, the family members of the thirteen US troops killed are still demanding answers as no Biden administration official has taken blame for the horrors that occurred during the withdrawal.

McCaul says the documents are needed to “prevent the catastrophic mistakes of the withdrawal from happening again.”

The back and forth between McCaul and the State Department has been going on for months.

McCaul first subpoenaed the department for the AAR documents on July 18.

He called the department’s response to that subpoena “anemic” and unacceptable.

McCaul and Blinken spoke on the phone on August 11, with the secretary “personally” promising to provide the chairman with the information he was looking for.

But now the committee’s patience has run out, McCaul continues in the letter.

Last year, the committee postponed detaining Blinken for contempt of Congress on a separate matter — after he agreed to allow the committee’s leadership to see a secret derogatory cable that State Department employees had sent ahead of the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul on July 13, 2021.

The cable warned of a “deteriorating” security situation and urged the immediate evacuation of allies, a warning that the Biden administration failed to heed, Republicans say.

The committee had asked Naz Durakoglu, deputy secretary of the Bureau of Legislative Affairs, and Richard Visek of the Office of the Legal Counsel to attend transcribed interviews.

Last July, the State Department quietly released an 87-page report condemning his government’s failure to prepare for the Taliban’s rapid collapse of Afghanistan in 2021.

The study revealed serious leadership pitfalls, as well as questions about who was in charge before and during the chaos

“Both President Trump and President Biden’s decisions to end the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan had serious consequences for the viability of the Afghan government and its security,” the report said.

‘These decisions are beyond the scope of this review, but the (evaluation) team found that insufficient consideration was given during both administrations to the worst-case scenarios and how quickly they could follow.’

It also outlined several strategic failures as the Taliban overran cities – saying not enough attention was paid to “worst-case scenarios”.

As a result, thousands of allies who helped the US in the war were left behind, and chaos ensued at Hamid Karzai International Airport as men, women and children desperately tried to flee.

Although planning for the evacuation of Kabul had begun “some time” in advance, the State Department was “hampered by the fact that it was unclear who within the ministry was in charge.”