Congressional Committee Releases Report On Congressman Markwayne Mullin

As the U.S. House Committee on Ethics continues to decide if it will take action against Congressman Markwayne Mullin, he talked with News On 6 about what this means for himself and his business Monday.

The committee released an update on its investigation Monday.

U.S. House Committee On Ethics news release

The congressman is at the center of what - even the House Committee on Ethics admitted - is the setting of a precedent. How involved can an owner be in his family business, while he's serving in Congress?

Second District Congressman Markwayne Mullin told News On 6, he's not doing anything wrong.

At the request of the Office of Congressional Ethics, the House Committee on Ethics reviewed Congressman Mullin and if he was still allowed to be involved in his business, Mullin Plumbing.

Under congressional ethics rules, representatives are limited on how much Outside Earned Income (OEI) a house member can make, which right now is $27,000 a year. OEI is money you get for "personal services actually rendered," or work you actually do yourself.

Markwayne Mullin Statement On Continuation Of Investigation

News On 6 asked the congressman if he has gone over that limit.

"How do you limit what a business is worth, a business owner, a family business? How is it that Congress can limit what your time is worth? Truth is, I would do it for free," said Congressman Markwayne Mullin.

Mullin and his wife have run Mullin Plumbing for 17 years, but when he was elected in 2012, he met with the Committee on Ethics to ask them what the rules were for family-business owners. They told him: "

We've never had another member like you up here, that's still actively involved in the company. So whatever we do, we're going to have to set precedents with."

Mullin said the committee gave him suggestions and he says he did those, plus hired a CEO for his company.

He said if this does turn into an investigation, Mullin says he will fight it.

"Absolutely, we'll fight it. We're doing nothing wrong. We have obviously doing this for a long time, your listeners know, the people of Oklahoma know, our companies have a very strong presence in Oklahoma. We've been doing this before we're elected, so why can't we continue to operate our companies?" said Congressman Markwayne Mullin.

Mullin said when his time in Congress is done, he plans to go back to the day-to-day running of Mullin Plumbing. He said he is not a "career politician."

2/7/2014 Related Story: Ethics Committee Considering Probe of Oklahoma Congressman Mullin