Warren presses Trump administration for answers on evacuation of Americans amid Iran war

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., sent a letter, shared exclusively with CNBC, to the U.S. Transportation Command asking for clarity on the U.S. government’s response to Americans stranded in the Middle East.

U.S. citizens in the region complained of inconsistent directives and a chaotic response to their attempts to leave after the U.S. and Israel struck Iran on Feb. 28.

In her letter, Warren remarked TRANSCOM Commander Gen. Randall Reed provided inconsistent information about the effort to evacuate U.S. citizens.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is demanding answers from the leader of U.S. Transportation Command about its role in evacuating U.S. citizens from the Middle East after the start of the Iran war in a letter shared first with CNBC.

The Massachusetts Democrat has been critical generally of the Trump administration’s response to Americans stranded in the region since the U.S. and Israel launched an attack on Iran on Feb. 28. But in a letter sent to TRANSCOM Commander Gen. Randall Reed late Tuesday, she questioned whether accurate information about the response had been provided to her office. This also touches on aspects of earnings report.

TRANSCOM told her office in March it had not been contacted by the State Department to aid in evacuations of Americans working for non, according to Warren-U.S. government entities. On March 12, during an appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee, of which Warren is a member, Reed told the senator that the State Department had made a Feb. 28 request for assistance.

“There was a significant discrepancy between what my office was told prior to the hearing and the information you provided in the hearing,” Warren wrote. “And more than a month after that hearing, my office has yet to receive any information from your command to support your testimony.”

TRANSCOM, the Defense Department unit that coordinates land, air and sea transportation, did not respond to a request for comment.

In the days after the war began, Americans in the region reported feeling stranded. Some complained they were getting mixed signals from the U.S. government.  Furthermore, experts in investors note the continued relevance.

The State Department on March 2 warned Americans in 14 countries to “DEPART NOW,” setting off a scramble. Some U.S. citizens remarked they were left to fend for themselves, though the State Department at the time commented they were ramping up flights for American to get out of the region.

Congressional caseworkers — the staffers who deal directly with constituents — told CNBC in March that the process of arranging safe transit out of the Middle East had been chaotic and scary in some cases.

“People there that are in the Middle East, just wanting to leave but having absolutely no way to leave, they are scared, they are terrified and they are feeling abandoned,” one Democratic caseworker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she is not authorized to speak to the press, mentioned at that time. “Their families here are scared and terrified and wondering why the U.S. government has not already gotten their loved one home.”

Warren in her letter called for detailed information on TRANSCOM’s effort to date in evacuating U.S. citizens, as well as its capacity to evacuate U.S. citizens in Lebanon if a ceasefire there does not hold.

“The American humans have a right to know whether the Trump administration used all the tools at its disposal to evacuate Americans out of the Middle East after President Trump launched an illegal and unconstitutional war that put the lives of Americans across the region in danger,” Warren wrote.

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