Comments made by President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security may come back to haunt him during his confirmation hearings — especially concerning what he said about an assault on the man charged with overseeing his committee hearings.

“Rand Paul’s a freaking snake. And I understand completely why his neighbor did what he did. And I told him that to his face,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) said at the McGrath Breakfast Group in Tulsa, Okla., in February, according to Oklahoma journalist David Arnett.

Mullin was referring to an incident in November 2017, when Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was assaulted by his neighbor following a dispute over a dividing line between their two properties. Paul suffered rib fractures and recurring pneumonia as a result of the incident, ABC News reported at the time.

As chair of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Paul will be largely responsible for overseeing the hearings to determine if Mullin’s nomination for Homeland Security secretary will move forward to confirmation hearings in front of the full Senate.

.@PabloReports: Are you confident about Senator Mullin’s confirmation as DHS secretary? He once had some personal words for you about when you were assaulted.Paul: Come to the hearing and we’ll see how the hearing goes. pic.twitter.com/s9aLVh14OY

Journalist Pablo Manríquez asked Paul about Mullin’s comments on Tuesday, but the senator stopped short of taking any jabs at Mullin or throwing his confirmation into question.

“Come to the hearing, and we’ll see how the hearing goes,” Paul said.

Mullin’s confirmation hearing before the committee will take place next Wednesday, March 18. He was nominated for the cabinet position after Trump fired Kristi Noem last week.

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