Overview
- In a confirmation hearing, Sen. Markwayne Mullin repeatedly refused to identify where he said he 'smelled war,' citing a classified 'official trip.'
- The committee moved to a secure setting, and afterward Sen. James Lankford said the matter involved an NDA rather than a classified operation or government recruitment.
- Reporters and fact-checkers have tied Mullin’s rhetoric to a 2021 effort to get into Afghanistan, noting his own accounts indicate he did not set foot in the country.
- Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy vouched for a 2016 House-approved trip, but senators from both parties described unresolved questions and contradictions.
- Mullin’s biography promotes a 5-0 professional MMA record, while multiple databases list him at 3-0 in a small Oklahoma promotion, and requests for documentation have gone unanswered.