Indiana Congressman on Committee Calling for Secretary of State to be Held in Contempt

Source: Indiana Republican Congressman Jim Baird

WASHINGTON–Indiana Republican Congressman Jim Baird is part of a House Committee who recommends that Secretary of State Antony Blinken be held in contempt of Congress over the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan.

13 U.S. troops were killed during that with withdrawal. One of those was 22-year-old Marine Corps Cpl Humberto Sanchez of Logansport, Indiana.

Sign up for the WIBC Newsletter to receive the latest news updates!

“That’s in my district. I can tell you how impactful that was both on the community and on the family,” said Baird at a committee hearing this week.

As a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Baird accuses Blinken of dodging accountability. That Committee is the one who is recommending contempt.

“Throughout the committee’s entire investigation into the withdrawal, Secretary Blinken and the U.S. State Department repeatedly obstructed, delayed, and refused to comply with legitimate oversight inquiries,” said Baird.

Baird says instead of providing the families of these American soldiers, he’s “hiding at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.”

Blinken will spend the entire week in New York holding dozens of meeting with his counterparts on a variety of issues. The focus in New York this year is on the situation in the Middle East along with the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

The State Department is also accusing Republicans on the Committee for setting up hearings on days they knew Blinken would be unable to appear.

Blinken has testified about Afghanistan 14 times.