Congressman Markwayne Mullin

Oklahoma Republican Congressman Markwayne Mullin, District 2, is in the spotlight again after reports surfaced that he tried traveling to Afghanistan for an unauthorized evacuation of five American citizens.

According to the Washington Post, Mullin requested help from U.S. Ambassador John Mark Pommersheim in transporting a “large sum of cash” into Dushanbe, Tajikistan, but was denied due to the country’s currency restrictions. Mullin reportedly told the embassy in Tajikistan his plan was to hire a helicopter to rescue a woman and her four children from the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

No information is yet available as to where the “large sum of cash” came from, and Mullin’s office has not addressed the question.

Embassy staff say they were threatened by Mullin after he was told they could not assist him in bringing that much money into the country, and as of Tuesday night, officials were unsure of his location. However, Mullin spokeswoman Meredith Blanford released a statement after 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, saying the congressman was “completely safe.”

“He and the Office of Oklahoma’s 2nd District will continue to do anything in our power to bring home all of Americans from the war zone that President Biden abandoned,” the statement read.

The statement also said this was the only comment Mullin would have at this time.

In a Wednesday morning Instagram post, however, Mullin said he was headed 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,” Mullin wrote.

Mullin’s attempt to travel to the country comes on the heels of an unauthorized trip to Afghanistan by Reps. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., and Peter Meijer, R-Mich., last week, which was deemed a public relations stunt by State Department officials. Moulton and Meijer are ex-military personnel, whereas Mullin has never served.

This was also Mullin’s second try at entering Afghanistan, as he traveled to Greece last week and requested permission from the Department of Defense to visit Kabul, but was denied by the Pentagon.

The reports come after the U.S. removed the last of its troop from Afghanistan on Monday, with more than 120,000 people – U.S. citizens, interpreters, at-risk Afghans – evacuated from the country and fewer than 200 American citizens remaining.

Few top-ranked Republicans would comment on the matter. However, Oklahoma Republican Congressman Tom Cole, District 4, said: “I’m glad to hear Rep. Mullin is safe and wish him continued safety during his travels home.”

The Oklahoma Democratic Party called on Mullin Wednesday to focus on his job and not stop putting himself or others in harm’s way by “embarking on a secret mission that he is not prepared to handle.” ODP Chair Alicia Andrews said it was a PR stunt to stay relevant for re-election purposes, and that there are other ways to go about evacuating Americans without him “playing spy.”

“It’s reckless, it’s dangerous,” she said. “We have folks to do that job. With our military leaving the area, he actually putting some military folks in danger if they have to go rescue him, in addition to … the satchel of undeclared cash. That’s not just irresponsible, but it’s also illegal.”

As the Jan. 6 Capitol riot unfolded, Mullin was the subject of scrutiny after being photographed crouching behind some seats. In the aftermath, Mullin offered eyewitness accounts and described his efforts to help tamp down the violence. He told the Tulsa World he saw a group peel away from the main body of demonstrators to attack police “with evil intentions in their eyes.”

Later, when asked whether President Trump should bear some of the blame for the riot, Mullin told the Tulsa World he “wasn’t paying attention” to Trump’s actions in the run-up to the insurrection, but stressed that Trump was “absolutely not” responsible.

“We all [have responsibility],” he said. “The media has responsibility, the Republicans have responsibility, the Democrats have responsibility. Those who post the most ridiculous things on social media … have responsibility.”

Reese Gorman of the Norman Transcript contributed to this story.