Mullin ‘heading home’ after rescue trip
Disappointed Americans left in Afghanistan
U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin posted a message on Instagram Wednesday saying he was heading home after “helping get Americans out of Afghanistan.”
The message came after The Washington Post reported on Tuesday night that Mullin had been in the region and argued with U.S. State Department personnel over his plans to get into Afghanistan.
The Post reported that Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican, asked U.S. Embassy staff in Tajikistan on Monday to help him bring in more cash than that country allows so he could then go to neighboring Afghanistan to rescue five Americans. Mullin planned to use the cash to hire a helicopter, the paper said.
The Post, quoting unnamed sources, reported that the embassy refused and that Mullin then threatened them, though the actual threats were not reported. The Post said it was Mullin’s second attempt in the past two weeks to get into Afghanistan.
In the Instagram post, Mullin said, “I am heading home. 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. Am I extremely disappointed in how we (United States) left Americans behind … that would be an understatement.
“President Biden and his administration are absolutely lying to the American people about Americans and our friends being left behind.”
At a briefing on Wednesday, State Department spokesperson Ned Price, asked about Mullin, declined to discuss specifics about the report.
Price said, “As you know, the State Department does not routinely comment on the travel plans of private American citizens, or members of Congress for that matter. But we have made it abundantly clear that travel to Afghanistan is not safe and it is something that we certainly do not recommend.
“We have a Level Four travel advisory issued for Afghanistan. We have issued a series of increasingly urgent warnings to the American people — and, by extension, the broader public — over the course of months and, in fact, over the course of 20 years regarding the potential dangers of travel to Afghanistan.
“When it comes to our missions abroad, every single embassy of ours — and this includes our embassy in Dushanbe — has a foremost responsibility to look after the welfare of American citizens. And our team has been intensely focused on assisting Americans who may have been exiting Afghanistan into Tajikistan in recent weeks.”
The State Department's Level Four advisory is that people not travel to countries with that designation.
The United States on Monday completed the withdrawal of troops, a decision Biden defended in a speech to the nation on Tuesday. The administration has said that up to 200 Americans remain in the country, and the president said they would be evacuated if they wanted to be.
It was not clear Wednesday whether Mullin got into Afghanistan this week. His office released a statement late Tuesday that gave no details on his trip or whereabouts but said he “has been and is currently completely safe.”
Mullin, 44, has been in the House since 2013. He represents the 2nd District of Oklahoma, which includes all or part of 24 counties in eastern Oklahoma.