On August 26th, we lost thirteen American heroes.  What’s worse, we lost thirteen American heroes to entirely preventable deaths.  Their families deserve answers.

Unfortunately, the Biden Administration is proving too arrogant to admit that they made mistakes in the Afghanistan withdrawal or that those mistakes cost thirteen young servicemembers’ their lives. 

But that does not mean I will stop demanding accountability.

In today’s House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, I questioned Secretary of State Antony Blinken about President Biden’s phone call with now-exiled Afghan President Ghani.  In that call, he urged Ghani to “change the perception” of the situation on the ground - which, if true, amounts to a blatant attempt to manipulate the intelligence that American agencies and the military relied on to make life-and-death decisions.  

That decision, along with countless others, resulted in the catastrophic withdrawal.  Secretary Blinken, President Biden and any other official involved in the withdrawal must take responsibility. 

Watch the full exchange here: