Markwayne Mullin is an American Republican politician and businessman who serves as the 9th U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, sworn in on March 24, 2026. He previously represented Oklahoma in the U.S. House of Representatives and then in the U.S. Senate, for a combined 13 years, and before entering Congress ran his family’s plumbing business, Mullin Plumbing.
Case
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin says Rep. Ilhan Omar married her brother, and border czar Tom Homan cites an “ongoing criminal investigation.” Omar denies it. Snopes finds no credible evidence for the claim; Fox reports no public evidence of an investigation.
Role at the time: Secretary of Homeland Security, interviewed by podcaster Benny Johnson on the floor of the Republican National Convention
Statement summary
In an interview with podcaster Benny Johnson on the floor of the Republican National Convention, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, asked about Rep. Ilhan Omar, said “something’s going to happen” and that “this is an ongoing investigation.” He said “we know that she married her brother to try to bring him in the United States” and that “there may be more to this.” Using the second person (“you”) rather than naming Omar, he then said that if someone lied on their application and the government can prove it, that person “shouldn’t have been here in the first place” and “We’ll deport you.” He said any case the administration brings is “not political.” Mullin’s description of Omar’s marriage is his own claim.
“Something’s going to happen. And this is an ongoing investigation. We know that she married her brother to try to bring him in the United States. We know he lives now in London.” … “there may be more to this, the whole family migration and possibly some illegal activity for them to come to the United States to begin with.” … “If you decided to break the law or lie on the information you gave the United States … you lied about certain things about your application, those things, there’s no expiration to that. If we can prove it, then you shouldn’t have been here in the first place. We’ll deport you.”
The case’s fixed reference point is the Trump administration’s public accusation that Rep. Ilhan Omar married her brother to obtain immigration benefits, together with its announced federal criminal investigation of her. Mullin makes the accusation himself and presents it as known (“we know that she married her brother”), says an investigation is ongoing, and adds, in the second person and without naming Omar, that people who lied on their applications can be deported if that is proved. That defends the accusation and its pursuit rather than merely reporting it. The closest competing label is mixed_or_conditional, because he says he would act only if a claim can be proved and that any case would not be political; it loses because those qualifications concern how a case would proceed, while the underlying claim about Omar is stated as fact without condition.
Statement dates: September 10, 2026
Statement dates: September 10, 2026
Statement dates: September 10, 2026
