Sens. Ben Cardin and Corey Booker seek to re-examine K.T. McFarland's “knowledge and involvement” in contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. | Getty Democratic senators delay K.T. McFarland ambassador nomination

Democratic Sens. Ben Cardin of Maryland and Cory Booker of New Jersey on Friday placed a hold on K.T. McFarland’s nomination to become U.S. ambassador to Singapore, urging congressional leaders to re-examine her “knowledge and involvement” in contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.

In a letter addressed to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the two members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee announced their intent to delay the nomination process until McFarland “publicly clarifies” potential discrepancies in her statements regarding communications between Michael Flynn, her former superior at the National Security Council, and a Russian diplomat.


“Ms. McFarland may have provided information to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that conflicts with recent media reports regarding her knowledge and involvement in matters pertaining to contacts during the Trump Presidential Transition between former National Security Adviser General Michael Flynn and Russia’s Ambassador to the United States Sergei Kislyak, among other matters,” the two lawmakers wrote Friday.

McFarland, pressed on the matter by Booker in July, testified that she was “not aware of any of the issues or events” pertaining to Flynn’s contact with Kislyak. But emails obtained by The New York Times this week revealed that McFarland was aware of a crucial email exchange between Flynn and Kislyak.

Over the past week, Senate Democrats have called on McFarland to publicly testify to account for the conflicting accounts in her testimony and the reported email exchanges.

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President Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate McFarland, a former Fox News analyst turned deputy national security adviser under Flynn, to the role of U.S. ambassador to Singapore in May, a month after her departure from the National Security Council.

McFarland, a Flynn favorite, was a controversial figure in her early tenure with the Trump administration after having spent several decades out of public service.

Flynn pleaded guilty last week to lying to the FBI regarding his communications with Russian officials, indicating that he is now cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and foreign agents.

