Congressman reportedly threatened embassy staff

Republican Rep. Markwayne Mullin threatened U.S. embassy staff in Tajikistan, outraged that they would not assist him in carrying a huge amount of money through the country as he attempted to travel to Afghanistan for an unauthorized evacuation effort, The Washington Post reported.

The Post reported that Mullin called the U.S. embassy in Tajikistan on Monday, informing them that he would be flying from the country of Georgia to Tajikistan’s capital of Dushanbe within hours and wanted help in transporting a large sum of cash, the Post reported.

The Oklahoma congressman told the embassy that he planned to rescue five U.S. citizens, a woman and her four children, from Afghanistan by hiring a helicopter, two U.S. officials told the newspaper.

Embassy officials denied Mullin’s request, saying they could not help him bypass Tajikistan’s currency restrictions on his way to Afghanistan, the Post reported.

Upset by the response he received, Mullin then threatened the top diplomat, Ambassador John Mark Pommersheim, and embassy staff, according to the Post.

As of late Tuesday, U.S. officials told the Post that they were unsure of Mullin’s whereabouts.

Mullin “has been and is currently completely safe,” his spokeswoman, Meredith Blanford, said in a statement sent out Tuesday night, without elaborating on his current location.

Mullin posted on his Instagram early Wednesday morning that he was not missing, but did “go dark for a little, yes because it wasn’t safe to be communicating.”

“Have we been helping get Americans out of Afghanistan, yes. Is the mission continuing, yes,” he wrote.

Blanford said Mullin and his congressional office “will continue to do anything in our power to bring home all Americans from the war zone that President (Joe) Biden abandoned.”