By Kelly Laco, Executive Editor Of Politics In Washington D.C. For Dailymail.Com
15:27 22 May 2024, updated 17:29 22 May 2024
Jen Psaki could be subpoenaed for continuing to dodge a congressional probe while ‘lying’ in her bombshell new book about President Joe Biden‘s bloody Afghanistan exit, threatens a top Republican.
In a letter to Psaki’s attorneys obtained by DailyMail.com, Republican Michael McCaul is demanding Biden’s former press secretary sit for questioning following her ‘deliberate noncompliance’ with his investigation.
McCaul leads the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which is continuing to probe the disastrous Afghanistan exit that killed 13 troops and 170 Afghan civilians, and injured 45 service members.
‘It is troubling that Ms. Psaki seeks to profit off the Afghanistan tragedy, and has felt comfortable writing accounts and making them available to the general public, but refuses to make herself available to Congress,’ he writes.
Her book has angered family members of the 13 American troops who were killed during the Kabul suicide bombing attack in Afghanistan.
Psaki wrote that reports that President Biden looked at his watch during the dignified transfer ceremony for the slain troops in Dover Air Force base in Delaware were ‘misinformation.’
Several members of the families of the troops killed in Afghanistan expressed their frustration with Psaki for denying the incident, which many of them personally witnessed.
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Biden was caught on camera twice looking at his watch during the ceremony, a claim that was repeatedly fact-checked and found to be true.
’Jen Psaki’s claim in her book that this was “misinformation” is not only dishonest but reinforces the contempt which Biden Administration officials have shown us in the aftermath of Abbey Gate terrorist attack that took the lives of our children, they said in an exclusive statement to DailyMail.com.
‘We watched in horror as President Biden looked at his wristwatch on multiple occasions during the dignified transfer of our children in Dover,’ they said.
McCaul states that Psaki ‘played an important role’ in the withdrawal as she was charged with communicating to the American people.
She also possesses ‘key insights into the planning and decision-making’ related to the Taliban takeover and the evacuation of American citizens and Afghan allies.
‘Ms. Psaki unfortunately advanced narratives regarding the withdrawal and evacuation that my investigation has proven untrue,’ he goes on.
McCaul proposes three possible dates for Psaki to sit for a transcribed interview with his committee.
‘The Committee will not tolerate Ms. Psaki’s continued obstruction of its critical investigation and is prepared to use all the tools at its disposal to ensure America’s representatives speak with her,’ he writes.
Next up on the list if she doesn’t comply would be a congressional subpoena to compel her testimony.
The Gold Star families have called on Psaki’s book publisher and her employer MSNBC to address the mistake.
‘We are calling on Simon & Schuster and MSNBC to hold Ms. Psaki accountable for publishing this dishonest attack on Gold Star families,’ they concluded.
Psaki conceded to Axios earlier this month that she would update the digital copy of her book and and correct the mistake in future printings.
Darin Hoover, the father of Marine Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, and Mark Schmitz said he witnessed Biden looking at his watch after every soldier was transferred.
‘They would release the salute and he looked down at his watch on every last one,’ Hoover said during a 2021 interview on Fox News. ‘All 13, he looked down at his watch.’
The statement to DailyMail.com was signed by Mark Schmitz and Jaclyn Schmitz, the father and stepmother of Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, Coral Briseno, the mother of Cpl. Humberto Sanchez, and Darin Hoover and Kelly Barnett, the father and mother of Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover.
In addition, Cheryl Jules and Christy Shamblin, the aunt and mother-in-law to Sgt. Nicole Gee, Steve Nikoui, the father of Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, Herman and Alicia Lopez, the father and mother of Cpl. Hunter Lopez, and Jim McCollum, the father of Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum joined.
Former Green Beret Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., has also condemned Psaki for trying to malign the reputations of military families.
‘Calling Gold Star families liars – even when there’s photographic proof – is a pathetic partisan attempt to defend your boss and a bad look,’ he wrote on social media.
