Florida representative proposes resolution to impeach Lloyd Austin for Afghanistan withdrawal.
EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Cory Mills Introduces Resolution to Impeach Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin
Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) has taken a bold step by introducing a resolution to impeach Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for “high crimes and misdemeanors” related to the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. Mills’s bill, obtained exclusively by the Washington Examiner, accuses Austin of a “dereliction of his duties and intentional abandonment of Americans in Afghanistan.”
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“Despite having nearly 8 months as Secretary of Defense to prepare for and execute a smooth and orderly departure from Afghanistan, Secretary Austin failed to adequately prepare for such a withdrawal, including through his decisions during the catastrophic events of July and August 2021, which initially resulted in as many as 9,000 American citizens being abandoned in Afghanistan,”
Republicans and former military members have long blamed President Joe Biden for going against the guidance of his top military advisers and withdrawing the entire U.S. military presence in Afghanistan in August 2021.
Mills, a veteran of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and a member of the House Armed Services Committee, conducted the first successful civilian overland rescue mission of Americans after the withdrawal. He is determined to hold the administration accountable for their actions.
“High-level officials in this administration blatantly ignored intel that Americans and our allied partners in Kabul would be left behind in harm’s way unless the U.S. corrected course in our withdrawal,” Mills stated. “It’s not enough for Congress to hold committee hearings. We must start taking real action to address the complete failure of this administration. Tomorrow marks two years to the day that we lost 13 of our brave service members. The fact that it has been two entire years without any member of this administration being held accountable is unfathomable. That changes today.”
The resolution alleges that Austin’s actions led to the “unnecessary deaths” of 13 U.S. service members in Kabul. A new book, “Kabul: The Untold Story of Biden’s Fiasco and the American Warriors Who Fought to the End,” reveals that the Taliban failed to act on U.S. intelligence and conduct an assault on ISIS-K members just days before the 13 members were killed in a terrorist attack.
“In my thirty years around the United States military, I have never witnessed a Secretary of Defense more focused on putting politics over military readiness, troop welfare, and our national security than Secretary Austin,” said Chad Robichaux, a former Recon Marine who rescued more than 17,000 people following the Afghanistan 2021 withdrawal. “He, along with this administration, have destroyed parts of our military history, culture, troop morale, and most concerning, our readiness.”
Defense leaders argued at the time that while the Taliban wasn’t an ideal partner, they could be trusted in this particular instance because both sides had a similar goal: the U.S. military leaving the South Central Asian country as soon as possible.
Austin testified before the House Armed Services Committee in March, stating that he had no “regrets” about how the withdrawal took place.
However, former Marine Mark Geist, who aided in the rescue of more than 100 Americans from the Taliban in 2021, expressed his disappointment in Austin’s leadership. ”Our troops, as well as the American public, expect leadership and guidance to be the voice for the servicemen and women on the ground. And Secretary Austin was not that,” Geist said.
The Pentagon declined to comment on the impeachment efforts against Austin.
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