U.S. Rep. Cory Mills recently introduced a resolution in the House to impeach U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, alleging “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
Mills (R-FL) blames Austin for the botched withdrawal of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan in the summer of 2021, according to a press release.
“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 said, echoing other Republican critics of the Biden administration’s withdrawal.
“As a result, nearly 200 people, including 13 American servicemembers, were murdered at Abbey Gate in Kabul, Afghanistan two years ago,” added Mills, a U.S. Army vet, in reference to the August 2021 bombing outside Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport.
“Because of this clear dereliction of duty, today I am introducing articles of impeachment for Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.”
The bill claims that Austin “engaged in high crimes and misdemeanors through his dereliction of his duties and intentional abandonment of Americans in Afghanistan” when he allegedly failed to adequately prepare to withdraw U.S. troops from the country despite having nearly eight months “to prepare for and execute a smooth and orderly departure.”
It points to the secret evacuation of Bagram Air Base as an egregious case of negligence by Austin, which reportedly made possible the later August bombing in Kabul.
“During the night of July 1, 2021, Bagram Air Base was secretly evacuated, which was subsequently de facto turned over to Afghan Government control without notice to them,” says the text of the bill.
As a result of Austin’s neglect, the bill alleges, “thousands of Taliban prisoners were freed. One of these prisoners, Abdul Rehman Al-Loghri, was an ISIS-K terrorist who detonated a bomb outside Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA), killing 13 United States servicemembers and at least 170 Afghans.”
Mills told Austin earlier this year at a House Armed Services Committee hearing that he planned to file articles of impeachment against the defense secretary. He cited the handling of Bagram among his reasons.
Given an opportunity to respond to Mills’ accusations, Austin said, “The congressman is certainly entitled to his opinion. … I don’t take a back bench when it comes to patriotism, devotion to our cause here, protection to our troops.
“In the short 41 years that I spent in uniform, … almost six years of that was in a combat zone. So, I get it. I commanded Bagram Airforce Base so I know a little bit about Bagram Airforce Base. But again, you’re welcome to your opinion and so I’ll leave it at that.”
Republicans have blamed the Biden administration for ignoring the advice of the military and conducting a full withdrawal of the U.S. troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, as the Washington Examiner reported.
The impeachment resolution against Austin is the sixth such resolution against members of the Biden administration, reported MSNBC. The list includes President Joe Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Vice President Kamala Harris, among others.
Proponents of the resolution took to social media to express their approval.
“We fully support the impeachment of woke general Lloyd Austin,” tweeted Republicans for National Renewal.
“That’s a good start,” another social media user said of Austin being impeached. “Probably should be more.”
Another user remarked, “That’s what happens with abuse of power.”
Other commenters, however, called the impeachment resolution a distraction and a waste of time.
“What a joke. The GOP always accuse others of what they themselves have been doing,” wrote one.
“None of it is even remotely based on high crimes or misdemeanors,” asserted another. “It’s the GOP agitprop machine trying to smear everything Democrats do to distract from Trump’s 4 criminal trials. The GOP is toast.”
