David Evan McMullin[1] (born April 2, 1976) is an American political candidate and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer.

In 1997, McMullin began attending Brigham Young University (BYU); every year he was in college he did a summer internship with the CIA.

[19] In 2001, McMullin graduated with a bachelor's degree in international law and diplomacy and began formal training with the CIA to become an operations officer.

[18] His deployments included postings in an unspecified southwest Asian country that was key to the-ongoing War on Terror.

[22] McMullin said his work involved meeting with business and government leaders, as well as collecting information from terrorist operatives.

[18] After leaving the CIA, McMullin attended the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, earning his MBA in 2011.

[24] In 2012, he volunteered for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, which indirectly led to him being recruited by Republicans on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs looking for an adviser with counter-terrorism experience.

[25] In 2013, McMullin became a senior adviser on national security issues for the House Committee on Foreign Affairs for the 113th Congress.

[26] In 2015, McMullin became the chief policy director of the House Republican Conference under Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.).

[26] On August 8, 2016, McMullin announced that he would run as a candidate for President of the United States in the 2016 presidential election as an independent.

[3] In September 2016, McMullin said Trump "poses a true threat to our national security by carrying Putin's water in the United States" and criticized Russian government activities to promote Trump and his allies, saying that these activities undermined the U.S. and global economies and were destructive to peace and security.

In such a scenario, under the terms of the Twelfth Amendment, the House of Representatives would select the new president from among the top-three electoral vote winners.

[31] The same day that McMullin launched his independent bid, Kahlil Byrd and Chris Ashby, Republican strategists with expertise in third-party ballot access, announced the formation of a super PAC called Stand Up America to support McMullin's campaign via TV and digital ads, events, and organizing.

[39] Finn had previously worked for Twitter and as a digital strategist for the RNC and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

[37] McMullin's support surged in Utah in October after the release of a 2005 audio recording in which Donald Trump was heard bragging in lewd terms about making sexual advances on women.

[40] McMullin's popularity in Utah – and Trump's unpopularity – appears owing to an unusual shift of Mormons away from the Republican candidate.

[7] In a December 2016 op-ed, McMullin attacked Trump as a threat to American constitutional government, saying that the president-elect's actions were "consistent with the authoritarian playbook" and "undermined critical democratic norms including peaceful debate and transitions of power, commitment to truth, freedom from foreign interference and abstention from the use of executive power for political retribution".

[8] In January 2017, McMullin and his former running mate Finn announced the establishment of a 501(c)(4) organization, Stand Up Republic.

"[7] In a February 2017 op-ed, McMullin wrote, "President Trump's disturbing Russian connections present an acute danger to American national security."

He called upon congressional Republicans to "recommit to patriotic prudence" and "demand that Attorney General Jeff Sessions appoint an independent special counsel to investigate Russia's assault on American democracy and Mr. Trump's possible collusion with the Kremlin".

[2][52][53] He announced his candidacy in the Deseret News, writing, "We do not need the extremists, the dividers, or the self-serving opportunists who haunt the halls of Congress today.

We need selfless, servant leaders who unite rather than divide, seek solutions rather than attention, and who will consistently put the interests of Utahns and our country first.

[55] Two high-profile Utah Democratic officials, former Representative Ben McAdams and Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson, endorsed McMullin by March 2022.

"[68] In 2016, McMullin expressed support for imposing a no-fly zone over Syria "to stop the aerial bombardment of Syrian population centers".

"[69] McMullin told ABC News that he believed Donald Trump's public comments were frustrating U.S. counterterrorism efforts.

[31] In 2014, McMullin helped to bring Caesar, a defected Syrian military photographer who leaked 55,000 images depicting abuses by the regime (which formed the basis for the 2014 Syrian detainee report), to speak before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, according to The Christian Science Monitor.

[72][65] After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, McMullin issued a statement saying, "I believe the never-ending conflict over abortion laws threatens a public health crisis and further divide the country on an issue where there is common ground.

"[14] During his 2016 presidential campaign, McMullin said that if elected, he would appoint originalist judges to the Supreme Court,[65] "in the mold of Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas".

[74] In 2016, McMullin expressed support for the provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that blocks health insurance companies from denying coverage or discriminating against people with preexisting conditions.