Rep. Markwayne Mullin had an urgent request for the U.S. ambassador to Tajikistan.
In a call on Monday, he asked for help transporting a vast amount of cash into the country as part of an attempt to travel to neighboring Afghanistan to rescue an American woman and her four children by helicopter.
The answer was that the embassy could not back such a dangerous mission, leading an infuriated Mullin to threaten U.S. ambassador John Mark Pommersheim and embassy staff, according to the Washington Post.
'To say this is extremely dangerous is a massive understatement,' a State Department official told the newspaper on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.
Mullin, 44, told officials he wanted to fly from Tblisi, Georgia, to the Tajikistan capital Dunshanbe within hours and needed the ambassador's help.
But the embassy told him they could not help him flout the country's limits on bringing cash into the country. Nor could they support such a dangerous plan.
U.S. officials said they did not know of Markwayne Mullin's location, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday night, after they refused to help him bring a big quantity of cash into Tajikistan to fund a helicopter rescue attempt in Afghanistan
Mullin reportedly threatened U.S. ambassador to Dushanbe John Mark Pommersheim, although the Washington Post did not describe what form the threats took
The U.S. embassy in Tajikistan, which Mullin approach for help with his private mission
Taliban fighters atop a Humvee vehicle take part in a rally in Kabul on August 31, 2021 as they celebrate after the US pulled all its troops out of the country to end a brutal 20-year war -- one that started and ended with the hardline Islamist in power
It was reportedly his second effort to reach Afghanistan for a private rescue bid,
Last week he got as far as Greece but was denied permission to carry on to Kabul by the Pentagon, an administration official said.
Officials have been on high alert for similar missions after an unauthorized trip by Reps. Seth Moulton and Peter Meijer last week, which were condemned as thoughtless publicity stunts at a time when the armed forces were already overstretched at Kabul airport.
As of late Tuesday, U.S. officials told the Washington Post they were unsure of Mullin’s location and his office did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The last U.S. troops left Afghanistan on Monday just before midnight.
It brought to an end America's 20 year war and it closed out with a mammoth evacuation effort.
The U.S. military helped evacuate more than 120,000 people, including U.S. citizens, allies and at-risk Afghans from Kabul airport.
The chaotic airlift was augmented by a string of private enterprises, from veterans using their military knowhow to help their Afghan allies reach the airport to charter planes collecting women who feared for their future under the Taliban.
Mullin condemned the U.S. withdrawal for leaving stranded Americans behind on Monday
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said fewer than 200 American citizens remained behind and that diplomatic efforts were already under way to establish new pathways out.
The State Department reissued a Level 4 travel advisory for the country on Monday.
'Do not travel to Afghanistan due to civil unrest, armed conflict, crime, terrorism, kidnapping, and COVID-19,' it said.
Mullin is not a U.S. military veteran, unlike Moulton and Meijer.
The Republican was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2012.
He has been an outspoken critic of the Biden administration’s exit from Afghanistan.
'This is a sad day for our country,” Mullin said in a Twitter post on Monday night.
'Americans have been stranded in Afghanistan by the Biden administration and are now left to defend themselves from terrorists overrunning the country.
'One motto of our military is "leave no man behind." But today, that’s exactly what President Biden did.'
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