House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman on Russia and Afghanistan report
WASHINGTON (CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Representative Michael McCaul (R-TX), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about the Justice Department saying there is a "massive Russian scheme to influence the upcoming election."
When asked if he has "any reason to doubt what the Justice Department and intelligence community said," McCaul replied:
"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."
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee
During the interview, Brennan and McCaul talked about a report, which will be released on Monday, regarding the investigation into the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan three years ago.
When asked why he's releasing the report during "an election year," as well as being asked if this was "politically motivated," McCaul said:
"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? 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."
To watch more of Brennan's interview with McCaul, click here.
