Olivia Troye, former Pence staffer, goes after Trump administration re: SIV evacuation

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Unrolled thread here
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1428740865665679361.html



🧵There were cabinet mtgs about this during the Trump Admin where Stephen Miller would peddle his racist hysteria about Iraq & Afghanistan. He & his enablers across gov’t would undermine anyone who worked on solving the SIV issue by devastating the system at DHS & State.(1/7) Image

I tracked this issue personally in my role during my WH tenure. Pence was fully aware of the problem. We got nowhere on it because Trump/S. Miller had watchdogs in place at DOJ, DHS, State & security agencies that made an already cumbersome SIV process even more challenging.(2/7)

I met w/ numerous external organizations during my White House tenure who advocated for refugees & pleaded for help in getting US allies through the process. I got the phone calls & letters as the homeland security & CT advisor to Pence…(3/7)

The system wouldn’t budge, regardless of how much this was argued about in National Security Council mtgs. The Pentagon weighed in saying we needed to get these allies through the process-Mattis/others sent memos. We all knew the urgency but the resources had been depleted.(4/7)

The fear of people across the Trump Admin to counter these enablers was palpable. There were numerous behind closed door meetings held-strategizing how to navigate this issue. The Trump Admin had FOUR years…(5/7)

..Trump had FOUR years-while putting this plan in place-to evacuate these Afghan allies who were the lifelines for many of us who spent time in Afghanistan. They’d been waiting a long time. The process slowed to a trickle for reviews/other “priorities”-then came to a halt.(6/7)

To people like Ben Domenech, JD Vance & others who are making blanket statements & pushing narratives of convenience on Afganistan-especially on the SIV/allies issue-please, just stop. Your comments are uninformed & also hurtful. We see right through you.(7/8)

Grateful for everyone advocating the urgency of getting our allies evacuated out of Afghanistan ASAP & those who are doing everything they can to help. It’s the least we can do for these individuals & it’s a matter of national security. The world is watching.(8/8)


SIV = Special Immigrant Visa

[2naSalit]

1. Hope she gets to talk about this on the teevee tonight.

[Lovie777]

2. Thru shithole . ..

only ones leaving Afghanistan was Americans and the American military. Not Afghans.

[niyad]

3. Just as a side note, for those who do not know. .this asshole ben is meghan

mccain's husband.

[Pinback]

4. Wow.

Quite the power(ful stench) couple.

[Rhiannon12866]

5. Twitter reply:

Link to tweet

[LymphocyteLover]

6. Besides Trump himself, there is no one more disgusting than his spokespeople

lying flaming garbage holes of people

[Mersky]

7. Rachel just covered this and included Elizabeth Neumann vouching for Troye

Link to tweet

[jmowreader]

8. Question for Domenech

If he "would have..." then why DIDN'T he?

The answer is very simple: Trump set up this whole thing to sabotage Joe Biden's presidency. Trump knew he was going to lose months before he did. His response was to negotiate a withdrawal with the Taliban which he wouldn't have honored if he'd been reelected, but that President Biden DID honor.

And in reality, I think the withdrawal is going far smoother than I expected it to. We're not fighting our way out. They're not using SA-7 missiles against the transports carrying people out of the country. Everything about Afghanistan has been one monumental goat fuck, so that the withdrawal is also a goat fuck is no great surprise.

[Mersky]

9. Link to Rhiannon's clips from the episode

Is a must watch

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1017675837

[Champp]

10. k and r

[Vinca]

11. Thank you, Olivia. She won't allow this to be a whitewash of the Trump administration.