State Department Officials 'Flat Out Lie' About Helping Americans in Afghanistan, Reports Say

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US State Department is trying to take the credit for a dangerous rescue operation that got an American mom, Mariam, and her three children out of Afghanistan, Fox News reports.

US Army combat veteran and Florida Congressional candidate from the Republican Party Cory Mills and a private team of military veterans, supported by the Sentinel Foundation and private donors, worked for weeks on getting Mariam and her kids out of Afghanistan, where they were left behind by the administration of US President Joe Biden, multiple sources confirmed to Fox News.

Meanwhile, the State Department announced on Monday that it had facilitated the safe departure of four US citizens from Afghanistan via a land route.

"This is an attempt to save face by the administration for the Americans they left behind. This is a woman with three children from age 15 all the way down to two-years-old. And they did nothing to try to expedite this… But at the very last minute you have these 'senior officials' at the State Department trying to claim credit for this", Mills told Fox News on Monday.

Mills and his team first tried to get Mariam and her children on board one of the last government flights from the Afghan capital Kabul, but the Taliban* blocked several of the family's attempts to get to the airport gate. Charter flights were unavailable since they were never cleared to take off, so Mills finally helped Mariam's family to travel overland to a neighbouring country and they crossed the border on Monday, just before the Taliban closed the checkpoint.

A State Department spokesperson told Fox News in an email that they "provided guidance" to Mariam and that "embassy officials greeted the Americans once they had crossed the border".

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken leaves after speaking about refugee programs for Afghans who aided the U.S. during a briefing at the State Department in Washington, DC, U.S. August 2, 2021

© REUTERS / Brendan Smialowski/Pool

Mills told Fox News that it is "absolute nonsense" that the State Department is "spinning this, trying to take 100% credit when they didn't track this family, when they placated this family, when the mother, who was under extreme stress and extreme pressure, reached out to the State Department multiple times and got no help".

Republican Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson and Republican Oklahoma Rep. Markwayne Mullin, who were both involved in the rescue effort, heavily criticised the Biden Administration for attempting to save face.

"The only thing the Biden Administration seems to be good at is patting itself on the back for a job horribly done. This administration left my constituents behind in Afghanistan and now they’re lying about their role in getting these four American citizens out", Jackson told Fox News.

Mullin also called the State Department's claims regarding Mariam's escape a "flat out lie" and told Fox that there were many "roadblocks" from the department that Mills and his team had to get around to help the Americans.

"The State Department didn’t do anything for two weeks except put my constituents in danger and leave them stranded. I know this for a fact because my office has been working around the clock to get our people home with no legitimate support from State. Only after Cory Mills and his team got them into the third country did State offer support by securing tourist visas", Jackson explained to Fox News.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that the Biden administration is working on organising more evacuation flights from Kabul.

The Taliban took over the Afghan capital on 15 August and the US troop withdrawal was completed at the end of last month. Thousands of Afghans who worked with Western countries have been seeking to escape Afghanistan.

*The Taliban is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia and many other nations.