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How grieving military families became a pro-Trump force with GOP operative's help
How grieving military families became a pro-Trump force with GOP operative’s help
As some who lost loved ones during the evacuation of Afghanistan became active in the presidential campaign, others had concerns about politicization
Family members of the 13 U.S. service members killed during the August 2021 suicide bombing in Afghanistan attend a congressional Gold Medal ceremony at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. (Will Oliver/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
By Isaac Arnsdorf, Dan Lamothe and Josh Dawsey
September 15, 2024 at 6:00 a.m. EDT
After months of disagreements, a group of military families who lost loved ones in a bombing during the U.S. evacuation of Afghanistan gathered on a Zoom call last December. On the line with them was a 35-year-old Republican operative and Marine Corps veteran who some saw as helpful and others saw as divisive.
The group had taken to calling itself the Abbey Gate 13 Coalition, a reference to the location at Kabul’s airport where 13 U.S. troops and 170 Afghans had been killed in a suicide bombing on Aug. 26, 2021, in the closing days of America’s longest war, marking a low point in President Joe Biden’s term. The relatives participating expressed disgust with the Biden administration’s handling of the operation, but the group had started to splinter over disputes that included whether to overtly support Donald Trump, according to interviews with people involved and text messages obtained by The Washington Post.
The group asked the mothers of two Marines killed in the bombing to leave over those disagreements, and the rest signed a formal memorandum of understanding that encouraged secrecy and solidarity, according to several parents involved and a copy obtained by The Post. The group added additional members over the next year, while other families chose to abstain.
The women who left the group, Cheryl Rex and Shana Chappell, said the political adviser, Marlon Bateman, told the family members that they could generate attention and donations by staging “political stunts.” Other families on the call deny that happened, and Bateman said he does not remember ever saying words to that effect.
{snip}
Monika Mathur contributed to this report.
By Isaac Arnsdorf
Isaac Arnsdorf is a national political reporter covering the Trump campaign. His first book, "Finish What We Started: The MAGA Movement’s Ground War to End Democracy," was published in 2024.follow on X iarnsdorf
By Dan Lamothe
Dan Lamothe joined The Washington Post in 2014 to cover the U.S. military. He has written about the Armed Forces for more than 15 years, traveling extensively, embedding with five branches of service and covering combat in Afghanistan.follow on X @danlamothe
By Josh Dawsey
Josh Dawsey is a political enterprise and investigations reporter for The Washington Post. He joined the paper in 2017 and previously covered the White House. Before that, he covered the White House for Politico, and New York City Hall and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for the Wall Street Journal.follow on X @jdawsey1
As some who lost loved ones during the evacuation of Afghanistan became active in the presidential campaign, others had concerns about politicization
Family members of the 13 U.S. service members killed during the August 2021 suicide bombing in Afghanistan attend a congressional Gold Medal ceremony at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. (Will Oliver/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
By Isaac Arnsdorf, Dan Lamothe and Josh Dawsey
September 15, 2024 at 6:00 a.m. EDT
After months of disagreements, a group of military families who lost loved ones in a bombing during the U.S. evacuation of Afghanistan gathered on a Zoom call last December. On the line with them was a 35-year-old Republican operative and Marine Corps veteran who some saw as helpful and others saw as divisive.
The group had taken to calling itself the Abbey Gate 13 Coalition, a reference to the location at Kabul’s airport where 13 U.S. troops and 170 Afghans had been killed in a suicide bombing on Aug. 26, 2021, in the closing days of America’s longest war, marking a low point in President Joe Biden’s term. The relatives participating expressed disgust with the Biden administration’s handling of the operation, but the group had started to splinter over disputes that included whether to overtly support Donald Trump, according to interviews with people involved and text messages obtained by The Washington Post.
The group asked the mothers of two Marines killed in the bombing to leave over those disagreements, and the rest signed a formal memorandum of understanding that encouraged secrecy and solidarity, according to several parents involved and a copy obtained by The Post. The group added additional members over the next year, while other families chose to abstain.
The women who left the group, Cheryl Rex and Shana Chappell, said the political adviser, Marlon Bateman, told the family members that they could generate attention and donations by staging “political stunts.” Other families on the call deny that happened, and Bateman said he does not remember ever saying words to that effect.
{snip}
Monika Mathur contributed to this report.
By Isaac Arnsdorf
Isaac Arnsdorf is a national political reporter covering the Trump campaign. His first book, "Finish What We Started: The MAGA Movement’s Ground War to End Democracy," was published in 2024.follow on X iarnsdorf
By Dan Lamothe
Dan Lamothe joined The Washington Post in 2014 to cover the U.S. military. He has written about the Armed Forces for more than 15 years, traveling extensively, embedding with five branches of service and covering combat in Afghanistan.follow on X @danlamothe
By Josh Dawsey
Josh Dawsey is a political enterprise and investigations reporter for The Washington Post. He joined the paper in 2017 and previously covered the White House. Before that, he covered the White House for Politico, and New York City Hall and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for the Wall Street Journal.follow on X @jdawsey1
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GOP probe of Afghanistan exit rips Biden, labors to implicate Harris
The report, following two years of investigation, was criticized as “nakedly partisan” by Democrats who were unmoved by its lack of new insights.
American personnel carry the remains of service members killed by a suicide bomber at Kabul's airport amid the U.S. withdrawal of Afghanistan in August 2021. (1st Lt. Mark Andries/Marine Corps/AP)
By Abigail Hauslohner and Dan Lamothe
September 8, 2024 at 8:00 p.m. EDT
The Republican leadership of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Sunday released a sprawling report on the U.S. exit from Afghanistan three years ago, blasting President Joe Biden and his administration as the callous and “dogmatic” orchestrator of a foreign policy failure so extreme that it ranked “far worse” than even America’s catastrophic withdrawal from Vietnam in 1975.
Democrats swiftly dismissed the 240-page report, the product of a two-year GOP investigation, as “nakedly partisan” and as the cynical manipulation of tragedy for use as a “political football.”
The document arrives just two months ahead of a tightly contested presidential election between Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump, and on the eve of their highly anticipated debate Tuesday in Philadelphia. Both parties said the timing of its release was intended to underscore Republicans’ recent efforts to revive public scrutiny of the withdrawal, which the committee’s chairman, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Tex.), suggested could “disqualify” Harris in the minds of voters.
{snip}
The report, following two years of investigation, was criticized as “nakedly partisan” by Democrats who were unmoved by its lack of new insights.
American personnel carry the remains of service members killed by a suicide bomber at Kabul's airport amid the U.S. withdrawal of Afghanistan in August 2021. (1st Lt. Mark Andries/Marine Corps/AP)
By Abigail Hauslohner and Dan Lamothe
September 8, 2024 at 8:00 p.m. EDT
The Republican leadership of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Sunday released a sprawling report on the U.S. exit from Afghanistan three years ago, blasting President Joe Biden and his administration as the callous and “dogmatic” orchestrator of a foreign policy failure so extreme that it ranked “far worse” than even America’s catastrophic withdrawal from Vietnam in 1975.
Democrats swiftly dismissed the 240-page report, the product of a two-year GOP investigation, as “nakedly partisan” and as the cynical manipulation of tragedy for use as a “political football.”
The document arrives just two months ahead of a tightly contested presidential election between Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump, and on the eve of their highly anticipated debate Tuesday in Philadelphia. Both parties said the timing of its release was intended to underscore Republicans’ recent efforts to revive public scrutiny of the withdrawal, which the committee’s chairman, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Tex.), suggested could “disqualify” Harris in the minds of voters.
{snip}