State Department watchdog opens new reviews into US exit from Afghanistan

In the letter dated Monday, Diana Shaw told top lawmakers on a number of congressional committees that the Office of Inspector General had notified the State Department last Friday that it was initiating the "oversight projects related to the suspension of operations at U.S. Embassy Kabul, Afghanistan."

Politico was first to report on the new reviews.

"Specifically, OIG's work will include reviews of: (1) the Afghanistan Special Immigrant Visa Program; (2) Afghans processed for refugee admission in the United States; (3) resettlement of Afghan refugees and visa recipients; and (4) Embassy Kabul emergency action planning and execution, to include evacuation of U.S. citizens and Afghan nationals," Shaw wrote.

"Given the elevated interest in this work by Congress and the unique circumstances requiring coordination across the Inspector General community, I wanted to notify our committees of jurisdiction of this important work," she said in the letter, which was addressed the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Foreign Relations, Oversight, Intelligence, and Homeland Security Committees as well as the Appropriations Subcommittees on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs.

The State Department watchdog reviews will add to the scrutiny of the rushed exit from Afghanistan, which attracted intense criticism from allies and lawmakers from both parties. Last month, the Air Force inspector general announced a review of the erroneous drone strike on August 29 that killed 10 civilians, including seven children.

Politico was first to report on the new reviews.

Ryan Holden, a spokesperson for OIG, told CNN that the office "notified its committees of jurisdiction today of planned projects in the areas you mention."

"This work will be conducted in coordination with other members of the IG community," he said, noting that it "is inaccurate to say that these projects are investigations."

"We indicated to Congress that these projects will be reviews," he said.

"We have no additional information to share at this time and Acting IG Shaw is not scheduled to provide a briefing on this work," Holden said.

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