Markwayne Mullin ‘absolutely’ believes Hegseth over sexual assault accuser

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

Mullin joined CNN’s Dana Bash for “State of the Union,” where he discussed President-elect Trump’s pick and the allegations swarming his nomination.

The two argued a bit, as Mullin enthusiastically backed Hegseth and said he spoke with the nominee about the recently released police report that details a 2017 sexual encounter he had with a woman alleging assault.

Mullin began speaking about the police report, arguing on behalf of Hegseth that the woman was in fact the one who led the pair back to Hegseth’s hotel room that night.

Bash interjected to note that Mullin “kind of” answered her question, which was does he believe Hegseth’s side of the story more than the accuser.

“I absolutely do,” Mullin said. “He wasn’t charged. He wasn’t even kind of charged. In this, there was no crime committed. The police dropped everything there.”

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

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

“The American people gave President Trump a mandate. A mandate because they want to change the way government has been working,” Mullin said. “Government has been working for a party, not for the people, and President Trump is putting people there that’s going to make changes.”

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