‘Highly Unusual’: Removal of Public Afghanistan Records Opposed by Inspector General.

Back in September, The Drill Down reported on the removal of public records detailing the amount of money spent in Afghanistan since 2001:

“In the wake of the total failure that was the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the abandonment of billions in bullets and choppers, the State Department has removed access to reports detailing the the monies wasted – egg on the face of the Biden administration.”

Now we’re learning that the decision to remove those documents was opposed by John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).

“Conservative government watchdog group Judicial Watch obtained 119 pages of documents through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request showing SIGAR John Sopko’s opposition to the State Department’s request to remove hundreds of pages of public reports on Afghanistan,” Fox News reports.

The initial request to remove the documents came from the State Department. On August 16th, Carol Clay from the Bureau of the Comptroller and Global Financial Services wrote to SIGAR official Matt Dove.

“We request urgent assistance in identifying and temporarily removing (and potentially redacting on a longer term basis) all potentially sensitive and identifying information on U.S. government assistance programs/projects in Afghanistan. A great many of your historical publications contain extensive details about activities and partners that could put individuals at risk in the current environment,” Clay wrote.

Sopko felt Clay’s reasoning for removing the reports was “not sufficient” and told Dove “do not pull anything down until we get a better and more authoritative request.” Sopko told Clay the request was “highly unusual” and “without any explanation or justification.”

“Many of the records you are talking about have been up on our web for 10 or more years and my IT people tell me even if we delete them they are still out there in the internet since there are numerous programs readily available that regularly sweep and capture such material,” Sopko wrote.

“I would prefer someone at State who is a political appointee explain in writing why you are making such a request as well as what is the basis of the threat and how this very labor intensive request will accomplish anything other than waste taxpayer dollars,” Sopko added.

The State Department claimed the request was for the safety of Americans and U.S. allies in Afghanistan. Sopko yielded, and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) removed more than 400 reports from SIGAR’s website.

“Despite repeated requests, State was never able to describe any specific threats to individuals that were supposedly contained in our reports, nor did State ever explain how removing our reports now could possibly protect anyone since many were years old and already extensively disseminated worldwide,” Sopko said.

“Nevertheless, with great reservation, I acceded to State’s initial request because it was made at the height of the emergency evacuation from Afghanistan.”

“These extraordinary emails document a cover-up and unprecedented government censorship to protect Joe Biden and his administration from further humiliation over its surrender in Afghanistan,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton told Fox News.

The State Department continues to contact the SIGAR to request the removal of public records. Sopko says he recently received a request to redact 2400 records.

Scrubbing public records from obscure government websites can’t hide what the world watched live on television – someone should let the Biden administration know.