Hundreds of US-sponsored journalists left stranded in Afghanistan by Biden administration

Despite pledging to get every journalist out of Afghanistan amidst the chaotic withdrawal from the country, hundreds of reporters employed by the US Agency for Global Media and their families were left stranded.

Fox News has confirmed that journalists from Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) were unable to board the last flights that left Kabul on Monday.

According to USA Today, GOP staff on the Foreign Affairs Committee said that these journalists were "supposed to be treated as locally employed staff for the U.S. Embassy" and to be put on a high priority list for evacuations. "But they still couldn't get out because of a series of problems, including the security situation, poor communication and a failure by the Taliban to clear them," an anonymous aid told USA Today.

"The committee source said that 50 USAGM journalists were able to leave but only with help from other governments," USA Today wrote.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Lead Republican Michael McCaul slammed the revelation in a press release on Tuesday, saying that the abandonment of these journalists is "disgraceful."

"It is absolutely disgraceful the U.S. State Department claimed they evacuated their local employees when in reality they abandoned hundreds of USAGM journalists and their families," wrote McCaul.

"Some of these journalists were given express assurances by the Biden Administration that they would be treated as locally employed staff – but were not. My office was working with one of these journalists and tried for two weeks to get attention brought to his case so he, his wife, and his infant child could be saved – but our pleas were ignored," he continued.

"I am calling on the president and the State Department to rapidly find ways to get these people to safety and away from the threats President Biden and Secretary Blinken enabled," McCaul concluded.

According to McCaul, more than 500 of these USAGM journalists are stranded in Afghanistan, with only 50 being able to get out of the country, "thanks to efforts by our allies – not the United States government," McCaul noted.

Prior to the August 31 withdrawal deadline, nearly 70 lawmakers signed a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to evacuate all 550 USAGM employees.

"We stress to you that the 550 USAGM employees and their families are no different from journalists you have already doggedly worked to evacuate," the letter read.

"They have been and continue to be a target for the Taliban due to their association with the United States government," the letter added.

The letter also noted that the Biden administration worked to evacuate all 204 employees of The New York Times, Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal.

Speaking with the Washington Post, Senator Ben Cardin said "It is disheartening that so many professional journalists employed by American-funded news organizations have now been left behind, with their families."

"These Afghan allies are among the people most endangered at the present moment for the good work they have done over two decades. Urgent attention must now turn to finding the best way to get them to safety," said Cardin.

State Department spokesman Ned Price told USA Today that the US remains committed to getting these journalists and their families out of Afghanistan as soon as possible.

"We did not forget about USAGM employees and their families, nor will we," Price said. "We remain keenly focused on getting them out safely just as soon as we can."

In an interview with the Washington Post, RFE/RL President Jamie Fly slammed the US government for their failure to get journalists working for him out.

"You would have expected that the United States government, which helped create the space for journalism and civil society in Afghanistan over the last 20 years, would have tried to do more over the last several weeks to assist journalists who made a decision that it was best for them to leave the country," Fly said. "But they consistently failed to do that."