Markwayne Mullin 'absolutely' believes Hegseth about sex abuse accuser

Markwayne Mullin ‘absolutely’ believes Hegseth about sex abuse accuser

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) said Sunday that he “absolutely” believes Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth in his sexual assault accuser.

Mullin joined CNN’s Dana Bash for “State of the Union,” where he discussed President-elect Trump’s choice and the accusations surrounding his appointment.

The two argued a bit, with Mullin enthusiastically supporting Hegseth, saying he was with the nominee over the recently released police report which details a 2017 sexual encounter he had with a woman who claimed she had been assaulted.

Mullin began talking about the police report, arguing on Hegseth’s behalf that the woman was in fact the one who led the couple back to Hegseth’s hotel room that evening.

Bash interjected, noting that Mullin “kind of” answered her question, which was whether he believes Hegseth’s side of the story more than the accuser.

“I absolutely do,” Mullin said. ‘He has not been charged. He wasn’t even charged. No crime was committed. The police dropped everything there.”

“Which is unfortunate, in today’s world you can be accused of anything, and then… especially if it’s something like this, it’s automatically assumed you’re guilty,” Mullin continued.

He noted that he read the police report “from cover to cover” and determined that no crime had been committed.

“The American people have given President Trump a mandate. A mandate because they want to change the way government has been working,” Mullin said. “The government has worked for a party, not the people, and President Trump has put people there who will make changes.”

A police report released last week details the sexual encounter between Hegseth and a woman in California, where she claims he took her phone, forced himself on her and blocked the doorway with his body so she couldn’t leave.

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