Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., whose whereabouts were unknown as he was on a reported trip to rescue Americans from Afghanistan, says he is safe and on his way back to the U.S.
For a period of time Tuesday night, neither House Republican leadership nor Oklahoma’s delegation had information about Mullin’s status, but he has since posted an update on Instagram explaining why he went off the grid.
“I am heading home,” Mullin said in a Wednesday morning post. “Have we been helping get Americans out of Afghanistan, yes. Is the mission continuing, yes. Am I missing, no. Did I go dark for a little, yes because it wasn’t safe to be communicating.”
Mullin went on to criticize President Biden for his handling of the evacuation of Americans and allies from Afghanistan during the U.S. military’s withdrawal, which left more than 100 Americans remaining.
“President Biden and his administration are absolutely lying to the American people about Americans and our friends being left behind,” he said.
Mullin’s communications director Meredith Blanford said Wednesday that the congressman was never in danger.
“Congressman Mullin has been and is currently completely safe,” Blanford said in a statement. “He and the Office of Oklahoma’s Second District will continue to do anything in our power to bring home all Americans from the war zone that President Biden abandoned. The safety and security of the American people will always be his top priority.”
It was previously reported that Mullin had reportedly gone missing after attempting a rogue evacuation mission to rescue five American citizens that President Joe Biden’s administration left behind in Afghanistan.According to the Washington Post, U.S. officials were “unsure of Mullin’s location” after he requested help from the U.S. Embassy in Tajikistan on Monday with his evacuation of a woman and her four children. From the report:
The call to the U.S. ambassador to Tajikistan came in Monday. On the line, two U.S. officials said, was Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) with an unusual and urgent request: He needed assistance in transporting a huge amount of cash into the country, saying he was going to neighboring Afghanistan to rescue five American citizens, a woman and her four children, stuck in the country. They planned to hire a helicopter for the effort.
Mullin told the embassy that he planned to fly from Tblisi, Georgia, into Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe, in the next few hours and needed the top diplomat’s help, according to the two U.S. officials familiar with the incident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose private conversations about a sensitive matter.
The answer was no. Embassy officials told Mullin they could not assist him in skirting Tajikistan’s laws on cash limits on his way to visiting one of the most dangerous places on earth.
After that, Mullin went ‘dark,’ as he explained.
This is an excerpt from Fox News.
Scroll down to leave a comment and share your thoughts.
