Donald Trump’s recent nomination of Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma) to lead the Department of Homeland Security has brought a controversial relationship with a felon back into the spotlight. This isn’t just about a job opportunity; it’s about weapons, a safe, and conflicting accounts.
Mullin is set to succeed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem at the end of March, once he is confirmed, and has already courted controversy for trying to stop a silent protest at Trump’s SOTU. Who runs the DHS is really important because it oversees critical agencies such as Customs and Border Protection, the Secret Service, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Federal court records from 2009 show that Mullin employed Timothy L. Saylor as a supervisor at his family plumbing business, Mullin Plumbing. The issue? Per the Washington Post, Saylor, a convicted felon, illegally stored weapons and ammunition in an office safe, and evidently, Mullin was fully aware of it and his history because “he told him.”
The situation has already been an issue in the past
Mullin denied any knowledge of Saylor’s criminal past when the controversy first surfaced in 2012, during his first run for Congress. He defended himself, saying that Saylor was an employee of an acquired business. It’s a pretty big deal because federal law makes it a crime to provide a weapon to a felon knowingly. Mullin, however, did admit that he had given Saylor guns “to clean,” but he was never charged.
The White House has pushed back by pointing out that Mullin had received endorsements from the Sheriff’s and U.S. Attorney’s office, who were involved in Saylor’s case. They also stated that any renewed scrutiny is “giving oxygen to a disgruntled former employee from nearly 20 years ago.”
Saylor has multiple convictions in California for possession of a loaded sawed-off shotgun, brandishing a weapon and threatening to kill someone, failing to appear, making obscene threats, and assault with a chemical during his incarceration. Despite that, Saylor said Mullin let him set up a shooting range on Mullin’s property in Coweta, Oklahoma, where they sometimes shot together.
In 2009, an informant alleged that Saylor kept a cache of weapons at the office and had threatened co-workers. Mullins said that the safe belonged to his father and provided a combination that didn’t work. Eventually, Saylor had to be restrained while firefighters opened the safe. Inside the safe, officers found a “large cache” of weapons and ammunition, including a revolver reported stolen in North Carolina and a semiautomatic pistol belonging to Mullin.
During his 2012 campaign, Saylor alleged that Mullin told him to keep quiet about the incident and let Mullin handle any questions. Mullin’s affidavit supporting Saylor’s defense at the time suggested the informant was a recently fired employee who threatened to extort money.
Todd Wuestewald, the police chief in Broken Arrow at the time, didn’t recall the Saylor investigation directly but commented that proving someone “knowingly” provided weapons to a felon can be really tough.
Published: Mar 13, 2026 09:42 am