Key Dem: McFarland Must Clean Up Flynn Testimony Before Ambassador Vote

The top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is calling for KT McFarland to “clarify” testimony she gave the committee on what she knew about former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn’s conversations with the Russian ambassador before she receives a floor vote confirming her as an ambassador to Singapore.

“Senator Cardin believes that before Senators are asked to vote on her nomination, Ms. McFarland should publicly clarify the information she said and sent to the Committee that now appears to be incomplete,” Sen. Ben Cardin’s (D-MD) spokesperson told TPM in a statement. “The onus is on her.”

As Axios reported, McFarland was asked about Flynn’s communications with Sergey Kislyak by the committee as part of her confirmation process and denied knowing anything about them. That claim was undercut by a New York Times report over the weekend that she had authored emails during the transition discussing how Flynn should respond to sanctions being imposed on Russia by the Obama administration.

Flynn pleaded guilty Friday to lying about whether he discussed sanctions with Kislyak in a a phone call he said he coordinated with an unnamed Trump transition official later reported to be McFarland. McFarland went on to serve as deputy national security advisor until she too was ousted from the White House. Trump later nominated her for the ambassadorship.

A spokesman for the Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), the Foreign Relations Committee chairman, did not respond to TPM’s inquiries.

Democrats are also calling for McFarland to testify in front of the congressional committees probing Russia.

“Ms. McFarland needs to come in, and not just testify in front of Mueller, but testify in front of the congressional committees,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the top Democrat on the Senate Intel Committee,  told CNN Sunday.