House Foreign Affairs Committee wants Jen Psaki to testify about Afghanistan withdrawal

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul says his panel wants former White House press secretary Jen Psaki and other former and current Biden administration officials to testify about the Kabul airport bombing that killed 13 U.S. service members and more than 150 others during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.

"We want to talk to Jen Psaki. The messages she was sending out from the White House were so different from what was happening on the ground," McCaul, a Texas Republican, said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."

As the Taliban took over Afghanistan and tragic images emerged from the country, Psaki said applauded the Biden administration's withdrawal on Aug. 24, 2021, two days before the Kabul airport suicide bombing. "I would not say that is anything but a success," she said.

In addition to Psaki, McCaul said he wants to speak to John Kirby, who was serving as Pentagon Press Secretary at the time of the withdrawal, as well as Ned Price, who was the State Department spokesperson at the time.

"I do know that an air strike was denied that could have taken out the suicide bombing team, ISIS-K and that was let out of Bagram, by the way," McCaul also said on CNN right before host Jake Tapper changed the subject to Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville's blocking of Biden's military promotions.

McCaul's committee is investigating whether military officials denied a Marine sniper permission to shoot the lone suicide bomber who killed at least 183 people in his attack during the U.S. withdrawal.

Retired Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth "Frank" McKenzie, a top-ranking military official during the withdrawal, disputed the allegation about the sniper last week during an interview on Fox News. 

"We were dealing with the possibility of a suicide vest attack but without [a] specific description of the person," he said.

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