The Biden administration put in phrase for accused Nationwide Guard assassin Rahmanullah Lakanwal 4 years earlier than the horrific DC slaying, insisting he was “no risk” to nationwide safety, a jarring letter of advice obtained by The Publish reveals.
The capturing earlier than Thanksgiving led to the dying of Specialist Sarah Bekstrom, 20, and wounding of fellow Guardsman Andrew Wolfe, who has been making a “miraculous” restoration.
“I’m assured that Rahmanullah poses no risk to the nationwide safety of america,” in keeping with the letter, which was unearthed by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee and has spent years overseeing the chaotic US evacuation from the nation following the 2 decade struggle.
The letter from the Kabul Annex to Customs officers consists of laudatory language officers used to push Lakanwal by way of the immigration system and into the US, whereas formally establishing his service to the CIA in Afghanistan through the US struggle there. An HR rep on the annex promoted Lakanwal for a Particular Immigrant Visa that allowed entry into the nation.
The letter is dated Oct. 14, 2021 – virtually precisely two months after Taliban forces retook Kabul and and the final US troops left the nation.
It mentioned Lakanwal had labored as a “safety officer” at a State Division Annex since 2011, serving alongside US and Afghan forces for a decade.
Lakanwal supplied “trustworthy and helpful service” to the US, and “has confronted vital risk to himself and his household because of his dedication to DOS Annex and the U.S. Authorities’s mission in Afghanistan. His contributions to the mission have little question benefited U.S. Authorities pursuits and nationwide safety,”
A further part that’s redacted for an unidentified “group” additionally confirms Lakanwal’s “work for the U.S. Authorities.”
The Publish reported final month that Lakanwal and one other Afghan man, Mohammad Dawood Alokozay – who’s accused of constructing terroristic threats – labored on the similar counterterrorism base.
“Sadly, we’ve got just lately seen that the Biden administration’s vetting failures proceed to pose critical penalties for the American individuals,” Grassley wrote CIA Director John Ratcliffe. He cited Ratcliffe’s personal public feedback about his work for the CIA and press studies that he fought as a part of an Afghan “Zero Unit” paramilitary drive.
He pressed Ratcliffe for data on how a lot his company vetted Lakanwal, in addition to two different Afghans arrested across the similar time because the Guard capturing – Alokozay, who was arrested in Texas for allegedly making bomb threats on social media, and Jaan Shah Safi, who was arrested in Virginia for allegedly offering assist to ISIS-Okay.
Grassley in a collection of letters this week pressed the CIA and different companies to reveal extra in regards to the roles three arrested Afghans performed for the US authorities.
“Did your company assess, vet, or examine Alokozay, Lakanwal,or Safi earlier than and/or after their entry into america?” he requested. Along with looking for paperwork, he inquired whether or not any of the lads supplied “materials assist” or contracted with the CIA, and whether or not they have been vetted in opposition to Intelligence Neighborhood databases.
The lawmaker informed the Justice Division, the FBI, and the Division of Homeland Safety, US Citizenship and Immigration Companies, and Customs and Border Safety, to offer comparable data.
The Publish beforehand reported that of the three males, solely Safi was on the federal government’s terror watch record of 18,000 individuals. He’s one among “almost 2,000 Afghans which have ties to recognized or suspected terrorists,” in keeping with an official in Director of Nationwide Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s workplace.
Greater than 100,000 Afghans got here to the US below Operation Allies Welcome through the Biden administration. In keeping with State Division information, 143,000 Afghans have been issued Particular Immigrant Visas by way of March 2024. Efficient January 1, 2026, the company suspended visas for 19 international locations together with Afghanistan. It mentioned it was suspending the congressionally-created Afghan Particular Immigrant Visas, citing a presidential proclamation.
Nonetheless, it mentioned the secretaries of state and homeland safety “might discover that journey by a person would serve the U.S. nationwide curiosity on a case-by-case foundation.”
