NEW REPORT: Officials Decline Comment On Afghan Program After Guardsmen Attack

Former top Biden administration officials have gone quiet when asked whether they still stand by the vetting procedures used in “Operation Allies Welcome,” the Afghan resettlement program that allowed the alleged National Guard attacker to enter the United States.

The issue resurfaced after the Thanksgiving Eve shooting in Washington that killed one West Virginia National Guard member and left another critically wounded. The attack was thrust back into the spotlight last week when House Homeland Security Committee ranking member Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., referred to it as an “unfortunate accident,” drawing a sharp rebuke from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

The incident renewed scrutiny of the Biden-era vetting process for Afghan evacuees and whether the officials who oversaw the chaotic withdrawal and refugee resettlement would defend those decisions today.

Fox News Digital reached out to multiple former Biden administration figures who played direct or peripheral roles in the Afghanistan withdrawal and resettlement effort. None responded.

Requests sent to former President Joe Biden’s office, former Vice President Kamala Harris and a second inquiry to a person listed as Harris’ literary agent were not returned within a week.

Messages to former Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, retired, also went unanswered, including outreach through Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs, where he is listed as a visiting professor. Milley, while a senior adviser, was not in a command role and did not make operational decisions. He later told lawmakers he recommended keeping a 2,500-troop force in Afghanistan.

Fox News Digital also contacted former Central Command commander Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie through his current role at the University of South Florida, but received no response. CENTCOM oversaw security and evacuation operations at Hamid Karzai International Airport during the withdrawal.

Messages sent to contact addresses for former National Security Adviser Jacob Sullivan and Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer were also unanswered. Finer is now a visiting fellow at Columbia University’s School of Public and International Affairs, while Sullivan’s wife, Rep. Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H., is serving her first term in Congress.

Sullivan, a key adviser during the withdrawal, was previously asked by CNN whether he felt “personally responsible for the failures” of the exit. He responded that the “strategic call President Biden made, looking back three years, history has judged well and will continue to judge well,” arguing that remaining in Afghanistan would have cost American lives and weakened U.S. leverage globally.

A woman who answered a phone line listed for former Secretary of State Antony Blinken redirected Fox News Digital to a press liaison. That request was not returned. As head of the State Department, Blinken handled the diplomatic side of the withdrawal and advised Biden on the Taliban’s Doha Agreement, while coordinating overflight rights and temporary housing for evacuees.

A similar lack of response followed outreach to former Pentagon chief Gen. Lloyd Austin III, retired. A woman answering an extension listed for Austin said she would take a message and that he would return the call if he wished. Austin was the top civilian leader of the military during the withdrawal.

Following the Thanksgiving Eve attack, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Administrator Joe Edlow announced a review of the green card system, citing the case of suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal. His predecessor, Biden appointee Ur Jaddou, did not respond to a request for comment.

Fox News Digital also attempted to contact former Homeland Security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall through addresses linked to her name and through Harvard’s Belfer Center, where she is set to lead an initiative on bioconvergence and biosecurity. No response was received.

Outreach to Harris’ former national security adviser Phil Gordon and Biden confidants Ronald Klain and Jeffrey Zients likewise went unanswered.

As congressional Republicans push for tighter vetting requirements and investigations into Biden-era immigration programs, the silence from officials who designed and defended Operation Allies Welcome has only intensified questions about accountability in the wake of the deadly attack.

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