The following is a transcript of an interview with House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Rep. Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas, on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that aired on Sept. 8, 2024.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We’re back with the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Republican Michael McCaul of Texas. Congressman, good morning.
REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL: Thanks for having me.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I have a lot to get to with you. I want to quickly ask you about what we heard from the Justice Department on Friday in regard to this massive Russian scheme to influence the upcoming election. Back in the spring, you took some heat after you said Russian propaganda had infected a good chunk of your party’s base, and you blamed right-wing media. It seems like you’re being vindicated here, but Donald Trump said yesterday at a rally- he seemed to dismiss all of it, “I don’t know what it is with poor Russia.” Do you have any reason to doubt what the Justice Department and intelligence community said?
REP. MCCAUL: Look, the Russians have been trying to do this for, you know, many years, so is China, so is Iran, for that matter, and it’s intensified. And I think I didn’t blame anybody for it. I blame Russia for putting disinformation in the United States that does get picked up by people unwittingly in many cases. I think in this particular case, the owners of the company knew they were dealing with a Russian disinformation campaign, and if that’s true, should be indicted. But it’s a problem with China. They’re involved in my election, just like Nikki talked about her election. Iran under indictment there. So I mean, this is Russia, China, Iran, North Korea.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to put that aside for a minute and delve into your investigation. You’ve been on this program a number of times over the past three years, investigating the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Your report comes out tomorrow. Explain the timing, because it’s an election season, a day before the presidential debate. Your ranking member colleague is saying that this is politically motivated and they didn’t even get a copy of the report. Why is that?
REP. MCCAUL: They’re getting a copy of the report today, as is Secretary Blinken, as is the White House. And–
MARGARET BRENNAN: — Is this politics, though, in an election year?
REP. MCCAUL: No, it’s taken me two years to get to this point because of the obstruction. I’ve had to serve subpoena after subpoena move to compel, threaten to, you know, hold the Secretary in contempt to get information like after action reports, all these documents, testimonies that we finally got to. Why is it important right now, Margaret? Because foreign policy is at stake. What happened after Afghanistan impacted the world? Why? Because Putin responded by invading Ukraine, two months after Afghanistan fell. Chairman Xi, Putin made an unholy alliance in Beijing, threatening the Pacific now, and then the Ayatollah reared his ugly head in the Middle East, and we’re seeing this. Finally, this is really important. The Bagram prisons unleashed thousands of ISIS-K prisoners that went to the Khorasan region. Eight of those, and that’s who we know about, have been detained by the FBI in the United States that got in through the southwest border. This is a failed foreign policy colliding with a failed border policy all at the same time. These are very relevant. Lastly, my investigation will go well after the election.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Where does it go next?
REP. MCCAUL: We have a lot of unanswered questions regarding the DOD. You know what happened on the ground? Why were these snipers left basically unprotected? Where was the surveillance equipment that was videotaping? Why don’t we have one video of the suicide bomber going off?
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, there’s a GoPro camera that you document that did film it. And there was a Reaper drone, I believe, that started filming three minutes after the explosion–
REP. MCCAUL: — After. After–
MARGARET BRENNAN: — But- but are you implying here some kind of conspiracy? I mean, you can’t be saying that the Pentagon wanted–
REP. MCCAUL: — I’m not a conspiracy guy. I’m a prosecutor. This was done very methodically. I wasn’t looking for press clippings. I did this- facts, evidence. I didn’t reach any conclusions. But the fact is, typically, they do multi-attacks at the same time. We know–
MARGARET BRENNAN: — The ISIS suicide bombers who were attacked at Abbey Gate?–
REP. MCCAUL: Correct and and that’s their- that’s their modus operandi. That’s how they conduct these things. We do know that all the video was destroyed after what we know from the Marines on the ground is that shots were coming from the Taliban, and some of the Marines were actually hit by bullets, according to their testimony. It’s the best evidence we have, because the videos were destroyed.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, General McKenzie, in a briefing in 2022, said that that was ball bearings that came from the suicide bomber’s explosion, and there was some dispute–
REP. MCCAUL: And that very well may be the case.
MARGARET BRENNAN: –but I guess why I’m asking is, there have been multiple CENTCOM investigations, a State Department investigation. Do you not accept the findings of those investigations?
REP. MCCAUL: If it wasn’t for my investigation, CENTCOM never- never would have opened- reopened any investigation. It- it was this, you know, very brave sniper that came forward. You know, Tyler Vargas-Andrews. They came forward and said, I had the suicide bomber in my sights. I asked for permission to engage. Permission was denied.
MARGARET BRENNAN: CENTCOM denies that that happened.
REP. MCCAUL: They denied it happened. I want to know where they got the picture. Is that a picture of the bomber at the site at HKIA, or where do they get that picture? We just don’t know.
MARGARET BRENNAN: HKIA, being the- the airport. I want to ask you though, 11 Marines, one sailor, and one soldier, lost their lives at Abbey Gate when it- that suicide bomber detonated. On Tuesday, the Speaker of the House is presenting an award to the family members of the fallen. That’s also debate day. I think you would agree, all Gold Star families need to be respected in this country. More than 2,400 Americans were killed in Afghanistan. 45 combat deaths under Donald Trump. Why aren’t all of them being honored? Why only these 13?
REP. MCCAUL: Well, this was one of the deadliest days in Afghanistan. It could have been prevented at the State Department, did its job by law and executed the plan of evacuation. They did not do that until- until the day the Taliban invaded and overran Kabul. By that time, it was too late. They left these 13 servicemen and women hanging out to dry. 170 Afghans killed. 45 service members and Afghans injured as a result of the I’d say, moral negligence on the part of the administration allowing this to happen. I think it’s totally appropriate to honor them. It was never done with the intention of it being on the same date as the debate. That was not a coordinated effort.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Really?
REP. MCCAUL: To my knowledge, it was not.
MARGARET BRENNAN: General McKenzie, who was the CENTCOM commander in 2021, said the Trump-era Doha agreement was one of the worst negotiating mistakes ever made by the United States. It was the “operational mechanism that killed Afghanistan, that destroyed the government of Afghanistan.” Did you identify mistakes by the Trump administration?
REP. MCCAUL: Well, we identified Zal Khalilzad. The mistake here–
MARGARET BRENNAN: The negotiator.
REP. MCCAUL: –yeah, with Doha, was the fact that he negotiates with the Taliban and leaves out the Afghan government. That was a slap in the face to them, and it was not good for morale. Having said that, the Taliban–
MARGARET BRENNAN: That was the Trump policy.
REP. MCCAUL: Yeah, and the Taliban was in violation of Doha. That’s why Trump left 2500 troops. When President Biden came into office, it was very clear: go to zero. In fact, his press guy said it’s immaterial, Doha agreement’s immaterial to us going to zero. We’re getting the hell out of there, irrespective of conditions on the ground.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Both presidents agreed with getting out. It was the military that opposed how it was done.
REP. MCCAUL: Well the Trump administration had conditions. I don’t think- I don’t think- we can speculate. One thing’s for sure, Biden had an agenda on day one to get out.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I have so many more questions for you, sir, but I’m told we’re out of time, and we have to leave it there. Mike McCaul, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, we’ll be back in a moment.
REP. MCCAUL: Thanks, Margaret.