Sen. Markwayne Mullin told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that he "absolutely" believes Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth over his sexual assault accuser and supports him for the Cabinet position.
The Oklahoma Republican emphasized that Hegseth "wasn't charged."
"He wasn't even kind of charged in this. There was no crime committed. The police dropped everything," Mullin said.
"What is 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.
"If you read the police report from cover to cover, which I have ... it is clear there was nothing there," he said.
The senator said he had "a great conversation" with Hegseth, where "we sat down with the police report."
"As a father of three girls, I will admit when I first heard, I thought, 'That's not good,'
"As I started reading the report, I thought, 'Wait a second. There's more to this story,'" he said.
"When I sat down and had a conversation with Pete, I enjoyed the conversation. He answered every one of my questions, and I look forward to helping him get confirmed as the next secretary of defense."
Mullin said voters gave President-elect Donald Trump a mandate "because they want to change the way government has been working."
"Government has been working for a party, not for the people. And President Trump is putting people there that's going to make changes.
"And, unfortunately, the establishment is trying to hold that back and trying to find every little piece of detail they can to say that this person is disqualified," he said.
But Mullin emphasized that Hegseth is qualified to be the secretary of defense because he "served honorably in the service for 20 years and is a ... combat veteran."
"He retired as a major. He's had a successful career since then. He can articulate what needs to be done and he knows the system," Mullin said.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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