Seth Moulton and Peter Mejier made unauthorized trip to Afghanistan at the height of the evacuation

[NewYorkExpress]

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/24/politics/seth-moulton-peter-meijer-afghanistan-trip/index.html

Two US congressmen on Tuesday made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan as the US races to evacuate as many people as possible from the country in the remaining days of the US military presence there, taking Democratic leadership by surprise and drawing swift criticism.

Reps. Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Massachusetts, and Peter Meijer, a Republican from Michigan, said in a joint statement Tuesday that they had traveled to Kabul "to conduct oversight on the mission to evacuate Americans and our allies" and that the trip had been conducted in secret "to minimize the risk and disruption to the people on the ground."

"As members of Congress, we have a duty to provide oversight on the executive branch," said Moulton and Meijer, both military veterans who had served in the Middle East. The pair said they had traveled to Afghanistan "on a plane with empty seats, seated in crew-only seats to ensure that nobody who needed a seat would lose one because of our presence."

But the trip, ostensibly a typical congressional fact-finding mission, blindsided House leadership and the House Armed Services Committee, according to a senior Democratic leadership aide, as well as the White House, according to a source familiar with the matter.

.....

A US official characterized the visit as an "unhelpful distraction," telling CNN on Tuesday that the Defense Department was also not given advance notice that the congressmen would fly to Afghanistan.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Dumb. Risky and not just for them.

[7,052,770]

The important question is not what seats they flew IN, but the seats they used to get OUT, which almost certainly could have gone to someone else.

[Suburbia]

Dumb. Risky and not just for them.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Ha check out the replies. He's getting skewered and rightfully so.

https://twitter.com/sethmoulton/status/1430330574217093123?s=19

[Torrain]

Ha check out the replies. He's getting skewered and rightfully so.

https://twitter.com/sethmoulton/status/1430330574217093123?s=19

Oof. There are a lot of human responses to this.

But I feel compelled to be the first to ask the most Atlas question: does this mean a primary challenge?

And if so, what’s Joe Kennedy up to these days?

[Tekken_Guy]

I wonder if Meijer gets primaried over this, especially with him already having the impeachment vote on his record.

[NewYorkExpress]

Ha check out the replies. He's getting skewered and rightfully so.

https://twitter.com/sethmoulton/status/1430330574217093123?s=19

Oof. There are a lot of human responses to this.

But I feel compelled to be the first to ask the most Atlas question: does this mean a primary challenge?

And if so, what’s Joe Kennedy up to these days?

Moulton is the most obvious person for Kennedy to run against if he wants to return to Congress.

He could also wait and see what Elizabeth Warren will do in 2024, if he really doesn't want to run for Governor.

[Anti Democrat Democrat Club]

Damn. I haven't seen Moulton try to take a seat from a more deserving person since NH-1.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The more I think about this the more infuriating it becomes. I almost hope some Trump hardliner primaries Meijer now.

As for Moulton Pelosi needs to threaten to strip him of his committee assignments unless he issues a very humble apology and the Massachusetts Democratic Party need to disown him and back a primary challenge. He was always an irritating attention where but this is a while new level.

[AtorBoltox]

This sounds like orders from their CIA handlers

[Utah Neolib]

Stupid

[NYSforKennedy2024]

Two of my favorite Congressmen but this ain't it dawg.

[Continential]

Ha check out the replies. He's getting skewered and rightfully so.

https://twitter.com/sethmoulton/status/1430330574217093123?s=19

Oof. There are a lot of human responses to this.

But I feel compelled to be the first to ask the most Atlas question: does this mean a primary challenge?

And if so, what’s Joe Kennedy up to these days?

I doubt Joe Kennedy would run for the House, especially since he vacated his safe House seat for a Senate bid in the first place.

[Pres Mike]

Yes, because that is what Democrats need. To lose a member with their three seat majority to gunfire/IED

[Woody]

"conduct oversight"... I wonder what they think about their photo-op right now.

[Ferguson97]

Clowns.

[THG]

Two brave individuals who deserve the medal of freedom.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

The important question is not what seats they flew IN, but the seats they used to get OUT, which almost certainly could have gone to someone else.

Very far from almost certain.  More the opposite.

It’s not the airlift that’s the problem. Afghans who worked with the U.S. are having difficulty getting through Taliban-controlled checkpoints and if they do reach the airport, there’s additional processing delays at the gates.

“Just because you have 5,000 seats [doesn’t mean] that you can automatically fill 5,000 seats every day,” Kirby said.

https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2021/08/more-seats-passengers-paperwork-taliban-slow-afghanistan-evacuation/184689/