Biden-Harris team was flagged for weak vetting of Afghan refugees, now one is charged in terror plot

For years, lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle in Congress warned the Biden-Harris administration's bungled withdrawal from Afghanistan weakened security abroad and raised terror risks at home with the inadequate vetting of refugees hurriedly settled into the United States in fall 2021.

On Tuesday, their worst fears were realized.

The Justice Department revealed that a 27-year-old Afghan refugee waived into the U.S. as part of the widely criticized Operation Allies Refuge was charged in federal court with plotting an Election Day terror attack in support of the Islamic State (ISIS).

Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi was arrested by the FBI on Monday and charged with multiple crimes including conspiring and attempting to provide material support to ISIS, according to the Justice Department announcement.

The charges immediately renewed alarm in Congress and inside security circles about the refugee program the administration put together during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and which has since been flagged by the Homeland Security's chief watchdog for inadequate vetting for potential terrorist ties.

"I fear this case is only the tip of the iceberg," Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., a member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee and ranking Republican on the Permanent Subcommittee of Investigations told Just the News.

"The Biden-Harris administration has been playing with fire and it's only a matter of time before terrorists succeed," he added.

Johnson's sentiments were echoed across Washington as word of Tawhedi's alleged plot spread Tuesday night.

"Unfortunately, our calls for transparency regarding the inadequate vetting and screening following the catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan continue to go unanswered and here Americans almost paid the price," House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green said. "We appreciate the efforts of law enforcement in thwarting this alleged terror plot on Election Day, but President Biden and Vice President Harris must reverse course on their misguided policies and put the safety and security of the American people first.”

Added Sen. Chuck Grassley  on the X platform. "U see why vetting &oversight is so important???" 

Grassley wrote a prophetic letter in July to the FBI raising concerns that the failed vetting corroborated by the Homeland Security inspector general posed a major threat to U.S. security, especially those refugees with known ties to ISIS.

"At least 50 Afghan evacuees paroled into the United States were flagged for the FBI by the National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC) as “potentially significant security concerns," Grassley wrote FBI Director Chris Wray.

You can read that letter here.

Tawhedi has been legally in the United States since September 2021, after he was granted special parole  to enter the country during Operation Allies Refuge following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, a senior US official speaking on condition of anonymity told Just The News.

The Justice Department made no mention of Tawhedi's special parole status in its announcement, though its federal charging documents made a passing reference.

"He entered the United States on Sept. 9, 2021 on a special immigrant visa and is currently on parole status pending adjudication of his immigration proceedings," the filing noted.

The charging documents allege that Tawhedi attempted to purchase semiautomatic firearms and ammunition in order to carry out the attack, and even had plans to resettle his family overseas ahead of the planned Nov. 5 attack. At least one co-conspirator was also referenced, but was not identified because they were a minor.

It is not clear where the attack would have taken place, but Tawhedi allegedly Googled "How to access washington dc cameras" and "Which US state does not require relations to get a firearm?" and visited the White House and Washington Monument webcams in July.

Tawhedi allegedly admitted the plot in a post-arrest interview with investigators, and stated that they planned to target "large gatherings of people," and that both him and the undisclosed minor "expected to be martyred" and die during their attack, according to ABC News.

The Homeland Security Inspector General's office and members of Congress have raised grave concerns about the way the Biden administration vetted Afghan refugees who were let into the country after the withdrawal.

The inspector general report said over 79,000 Afghan refugees entered the United States from July 21 through January of 2022. The report also claimed Customs and Border Protection paroled evacuees into the United States who were "not fully vetted," including dozens with known "derogatory information." 

You can read that full report here.

Green also raised concerns about the number of ISIS-tied immigrants that have come into the country.

“It’s only a matter of time before one of these individuals connected to a terrorist group is involved in something devastating on U.S. soil, and this administration will be responsible," Green said in a news release in June. "How much longer will we let this madness continue?”

Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., who chairs the House Oversight subcommittee on border security, told Just the News that Americans need to understand the risks extend far beyond the Afghan refugee program because the Biden-Harris administration has let millions of other illegal aliens into the country with similar inadequate vetting.

The Tawhedi case "is alarming but not at all surprising," he said. "You have countries with high numbers of American-hating extremists sending tens of thousands of people here. What do you expect? I think we will have more of this in future."