Republicans demand White House release full, unedited transcript of Biden's bombshell call with Ghani where he tried to create perception the Taliban was losing 'whether it's true or not'

Republicans wrote a letter on Thursday demanding President Biden release the full, unedited transcript of his July 23 phone call with Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani where he pressured the leader to change the 'perception' on his fight. 

'Your disturbing emphasis on “perception,” a term you used four times in the Reuters excerpts of the call with Ghani, over substance and truth demands scrutiny and accountability,' the letter read. 

'We hereby request that you make the full, unedited and unredacted transcripts of your July 23 conversation with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani public so Congress can determine the degree to which you may have deliberately misled the American people leading up to and during this disastrously executed operation.'

Biden focused much of the call on Ghani's 'perception problem.'

'I need not tell you the perception around the world and in parts of Afghanistan, I believe, is that things are not going well in terms of the fight against the Taliban,' Biden said. 'And there is a need, whether it is true or not, there is a need to project a different picture.'

In a phone call transcript obtained by Reuters, Biden said the US would provide aid if Ghani could project to the world that he had a 'plan' for fighting the Taliban, while the Afghan army was being overrun. 

'We will continue to provide close air support, if we know what the plan is,' Biden said.

'I´m not telling you what that plan should precisely look like, you´re going to get not only more help, but you´re going to get a perception that is going to change in terms of how, um..... our allies and folks here in the States and other places think you're doing.'

'In the period leading up to the withdrawal, your administration made a series of false assurances to the American people and our allies regarding the situation on the ground,' the letter read. 'The contrast between your Administration’s official spin and the reality on the ground revealed a bewildering lack of coherence, strategy, and fundamental transparency.' 

Biden focused much of a July 23 call with Ashraf Ghani on the Afghan president's 'perception problem'

The letter was spearheaded by Rep. Claudia Tenney, left, and also supported by Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, right

The letter was spearheaded by Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., and also signed by 26 other Republicans.  

The demands for a full transcript are reminiscent of 2019 when Democrats demanded President Trump release the full transcript of his call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.  

That call led to his eventual impeachment, where Democrats determined he had improperly pressured Zelensky to investigate a political opponent, Biden, and his son Hunter. 

Tenney, in a statement on the letter, again called for Speaker Nancy Pelosi to open impeachment proceedings, as Republicans have done with increasing frequency over Biden's handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal.

GOP leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has shut down any prospect of impeachment. 'I think the way these behaviors get adjusted in this country is at the ballot box,' he said. 

In the call Biden pressed Ghani to bring together the government's most prominent figures for a press conference. 'That will change perception, and that will change an awful lot I think.' 

Still, Biden expressed confidence that the US-trained Afghan security forces could fend off the Taliban, being much bigger in size and far more well-equipped. 

'You clearly have the best military,' he told Ghani. 'You have 300,000 well-armed forces versus 70-80,000 and they're clearly capable of fighting well.'

The White House has since laid blame on the Afghan military for 'collapsing without a fight.'

Ghani, meanwhile, relayed a sense of urgency to the US president. 

'We are facing a full-scale invasion, composed of Taliban, full Pakistani planning and logistical support, and at least 10-15,000 international terrorists, predominantly Pakistanis thrown into this,' Ghani said. 

'We need to move with speed.' 

Ghani told Biden he believed there could be peace if he could 'rebalance the military solution.' 

The Afghan president fled the country, sending his government into collapse, three weeks later, and the Taliban subsequently took Kabul.  

Biden promised diplomatic and economic support even after the military's withdrawal concluded. 

'We are going to continue to fight hard, diplomatically, politically, economically, to make sure your government not only survives, but is sustained and grows,' said Biden.  

The last US troops have now left Afghanistan, evacuating over 123,000 but leaving behind tens of thousands of special immigrant visa applicants and somewhere around 100 Americans. 

In the week before the evacuation's conclusion, over 170 died, including 13 US troops, in a suicide explosion claimed by ISIS-K.