Chairman McCaul Releases Transcribed Interview with Jen Psaki

Washington, D.C. - Today, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul released the transcribed interview with former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki regarding her role in the Biden-Harris administration's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. Psaki appeared before the committee on July 26th following a subpoena threat, issued by Chairman McCaul, after she repeatedly evaded requests to appear for nine months. Over the past several months, the committee has released its first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth tranches of transcribed interviews with key State Department and Department of Defense officials involved in the United States' withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The transcribed interview is minimally redacted.

• Jen Psaki, Former White House Press Secretary throughout the Afghanistan withdrawal. Psaki was responsible for speaking on behalf of President Biden and his administration, and advising them throughout the U.S. withdrawal of Afghanistan.

See a summary of Psaki's entire transcribed interview here.

In her role as White House press secretary, Ms. Psaki consistently misled the American public or feigned ignorance about the situation on the ground in Afghanistan. During her transcribed interview, Ms. Psaki claimed that it was her responsibility "to provide truthful and accurate information to the American people." (Page 22, Lines 17- 19) However, it appears Ms. Psaki merely regurgitated the false information she was provided. Ms. Psaki claimed there was no "mechanism" nor was it "appropriate for spokespeople to challenge or question the language and the veracity of information coming from people who are front and center to the policymaking process and implementing it." (Page 30, Lines 19-24)

• When asked about the information provided to her as the Biden administration's "chief communicator" regarding President Biden's decision to set 9/11 as the withdrawal deadline, Ms. Psaki claimed, "because I was not involved in the discussion nor was I asked for my input on that date, I don't have any further information." (Page 22, Lines 10-11; Page 176, Lines 19-20)
• Later, Ms. Psaki claimed, "the information I was sharing publicly about a timeline being operationally feasible would, of course, have been confirmed through the interagency NSC press process." (Page 187, Line 25; Page 188, Lines 1-2)

Ms. Psaki received the majority of her information directly from an interagency process and the National Security Council press team and its head, Jake Sullivan. (Page 28, Lines 7-8)

• According to Ms. Psaki, the NSC press team were "responsible for coordinating and preparing press materials, materials for the briefing." (Page 21, Lines 20-25)
• Ms. Psaki would also directly consult National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan for further clarification on fluid situations. (Page 27, Lines 15-17).
• Ms. Psaki "rel[ied] on the guidance from the national security team and the implementers on the ground, which included people who were in Kabul who were projecting their information through the NSC process." (Page 52, Lines 5-7)

When asked by committee investigators to clarify her previous statements, Ms. Psaki consistently demonstrated an inability to answer questions or refused to answer. When presented with information clearly refuting previous claims made by Ms. Psaki during the transcribed interview, Ms. Psaki repeatedly feigned ignorance or pointed to previous statements. Ms. Psaki never took accountability for her role in misleading the American people.

• When asked about President Biden's position on the U.S.'s obligations to the Afghan people, Ms. Psaki stated, "I'm not going to parse the President's words. I would point you to the many speeches and public interviews he gave on his own behalf," and did not answer the question. (Page 109, Lines 20-25)
• When asked about an April 14, 2021 statement she made about the presence of al Qaeda in Afghanistan no longer being a threat to the United States (wherein she reaffirmed her reliance on the NSC as her primary information source about the situation on the ground), Ms. Psaki reiterated, "any questions I would have answered related to intelligence would have been based on public - approved press guidance developed by the team through coordination in the interagency process that included members of the intelligence team." (Page 123, Lines 16-23; Page 161, Lines 11-13)
  • Contrary to Ms. Psaki's statements, Generals Milley, McKenzie, and Miller testified to the committee that al-Qaeda was present and being harbored in Afghanistan at that time.
• At a press briefing on August 31, 2021, regarding the collapse of the Afghan forces and military, Ms. Psaki stated, "I don't think anyone assessed that they would collapse as quickly as they did. Anyone. Anyone in this room. Anyone in the region. Anyone anywhere in the world. If you have anyone who did, I'd be surprised." Ms. Psaki was then presented by the committee with contradictory assessments by former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Milley and former CENTCOM Commander General Miller, as well as the State Department Dissent Channel Cable from U.S. Embassy Kabul. (Pages 209-214)
  • Given Ms. Psaki's testimony that her information came from the NSC press team, the talking points and the messaging she received from them must have ignored the conflicting assessments from Generals Milley and Miller, as well as the Dissent Channel Cable from U.S. Embassy Kabul.
• Ms. Psaki repeatedly did not answer questions regarding the Biden administration's assessment at the time regarding the Taliban's compliance with the Doha agreement (Page 155), the presence of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan (137), and the plight of women and girls in Afghanistan (Page 167) on the premise that, "because I answered all of these questions 3 and a half years ago, what I stated publicly about the position at the time is the best record of the position at the time of the U.S. Government on Afghanistan and any of these issues." (Page 1168, Lines 9-12).

See the committee's first tranche of released transcribed interviews here.

See the committee's second tranche of released transcribed interviews here.

See the committee's third tranche of released transcribed interviews here.

See the committee's fourth tranche of released transcribed interviews here.

See the committee's fifth tranche of released transcribed interviews here.

See the committee's sixth tranche of released transcribed interviews here.

To read the committee's interim report on the Biden administration's disastrous 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, click here.

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