Hundreds of Afghan evacuees in U.S. without vetting, GOP senators say:
Hundreds of Afghan evacuees reached the U.S. despite appearing on a Defense Department watchlist or a crucial counterterrorism database, Republican senators charged Thursday, citing the claims of a whistleblower.
Sens. Josh Hawley and Ron Johnson said they were told that 324 Afghans reached the U.S. despite appearing on the Defense Department’s Biometrically Enabled Watchlist (BEWL).
In addition, 65 Afghans who made it to American soil showed up in the department’s Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) — up from 50 who were reported to have been flagged by an inspector general in February.
The senators also said they were told that political appointees ordered military officers to “cut corners” on fingerprint checks for the evacuees to rush them into the U.S. and that Department of Homeland Security employees were told to delete some biometric data when they believed it was out of date.
“This information may show the Biden administration’s failure to vet those evacuated from Afghanistan was even worse than the public was led to believe,” the two senators said in a letter to Defense Department Inspector General Sean O’Donnell.
Mr. O’Donnell first flagged the security lapses in a report in February. The report said evacuees were brought out of Afghanistan to overseas staging points and then into the U.S. without ever being run through ABIS. --->READ MORE HERE
Whistleblower: Biden Admin Welcomed Hundreds Of Afghans On Pentagon Watchlist To U.S.:
Bombshell whistleblower allegations suggest the Biden administration’s failure to thoroughly vet refugees from Afghanistan last summer was worse than the Department of Defense admitted, according to a Thursday letter from Republican Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. The letter asked the acting inspector general of the Department of Defense about allegations that the DoD’s handling of Afghan refugees may have allowed terrorists into the country.
According to the letter, “324 individuals evacuated from Afghanistan were allowed to enter the United States, despite appearing on the DoD’s Biometrically Enabled Watchlist,” which identifies people determined to be “threats or potential threats to national security, including known suspected terrorists.”
The DoD reported in February that “50 Afghan personnel in the United States” had been identified who had “information in DoD records that would indicate potentially significant security concerns.” The report does not reference the 324 individuals the whistleblower said were on the watchlist.
In a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday, Hawley asked FBI Director Christopher Wray if he was aware of these individuals. “I don’t know that I have the exact number,” Wray said. “I know that there are a number of individuals through our joint terrorism task forces that we are actively trying to investigate.” --->READ MORE HERE
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