AXIOS (Hans Nichols) - Sen. Markwayne Mullin's secret war zone past
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) has privately hinted to colleagues that he was involved in dangerous private security work in Middle East war zones before running for Congress in 2012, according to three people who have heard him discuss it. Why it matters: It's a mystery likely to come up Wednesday at his Senate confirmation hearing, where he will face colleagues as President Trump's nominee to replace Kristi Noem as Homeland Security secretary. - There's no public record of Mullin — a former professional mixed martial arts fighter who sold his family's plumbing business in 2021 — doing the kind of security work he has alluded to in private. - But to former colleagues in the House, and on several other occasions, Mullin has…