Mullin says U.S. government sabotaged his freelance rescue mission

“I don’t know who shut us down, but I think it was 100% directed from the (U.S.) State Department,” Mullin told Fox News’ Bret Baier.

The State Department reportedly opposed Mullin’s efforts, telling the Washington Post: “To say this is extremely dangerous is a massive understatement.”

The department appeared to be the source for a Post story at midweek that said Mullin called the U.S. Embassy in neighboring Tajikistan asking for help.

Mullin said he told Ambassador John Pommersheim he was carrying a large amount of cash — essentially for bribes in Afghanistan — in violation of Tajiki law.

When Pommersheim said no, Mullin became angry and threatened him, according to the Post story.

Mullin was not specifically asked about the threats but acknowledged calling Pommersheim.

“Ambassador Pommersheim was not helpful, and a lot of misinformation has gone out about that,” Mullin said.

“He said, ‘I can’t assist you. I can’t help you.’ ‘Why?’ ‘I was told not to.’”

Baier asked Mullin about reports that he might have interrupted a covert government operation to do exactly what he and the others were trying to do.

“I don’t have a clue what they’re talking about,” Mullin said.

The Trump administration agreed in February 2020 to leave Afghanistan in May of this year and arranged for the release of about 5,000 Taliban prisoners as part of the deal.

President Joe Biden, who has long advocated for U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, negotiated an extension to Aug. 31. The administration advised Americans to leave the country at least as far back as April but was caught off guard by how swiftly the Afghan army, armed and trained by the U.S., collapsed in the face of the Taliban.

More than 120,000 Americans and Afghan allies were airlifted out of Kabul in the weeks leading up to Aug. 31, but officials say several hundred Americans — most with dual citizenship — and tens of thousands of endangered Afghans remain.

According to reports, some of those Afghans have been trying to leave their country for years.

Mullin said he was asked by a group of “Tier 1 operators” — former special forces operatives — to use his influence as a congressman to help extract some of those remaining from Afghanistan.

“Of all the guys I was working with, I was the low man on the totem pole,” Mullin said. “But they felt I could be of assistance to them. How? Logistically maybe. Open doors for them. Make a few phone calls.”

Mullin said he was initially asked to “sponsor” the flight, which he said was a requirement for getting initial clearance for the flight.

Details of the flight were hazy. Mullin said the plane never landed in Kabul, but later he said he spent 12 hours trying to get a woman and her four children through a Taliban checkpoint.

Later, they apparently tried to reach Afghanistan through Tajikistan — hence the call to Pommersheim. The Post story indicated that that call was placed from a third country, and Mullin said he and his group “did work around the region.”

During the interview, Mullin bitterly attacked President Joe Biden, Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley and others for “lying” about Americans still in Afghanistan and others trying to get out of the country as the Taliban tightens it control.

Biden and the administration initially said they would get all Americans wishing to leave out of the country before U.S. troops left earlier this week but later admitted that a few hundred remained.

Mullin said “the guys still over there” told him five planeloads of refugees are at Mazār-i-Sharīf, in far north Afghanistan, “but they can’t get out because no country is willing to help them.”

Mullin said Friday that he knew he risked drastically escalating tensions had he been captured or killed, but he said, “How do you say no? How do you say no when you have the opportunity to do something?”

Mullin said he has “a list of 50 we run out of Kabul and put in safe houses who wanted out.”

By “we,” Mullin apparently meant the United States, although that wasn’t entirely clear.

For its part, the U.S. government says it is trying to extract remaining Americans and as many Afghans as possible and that unsanctioned missions like the one in which Mullin participated make that more difficult.

Asked by Baier if he thinks that effort will be successful, Mullin replied, “We’re going to get some, but there are going to be some that die because of the failure of President Biden.”

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