KT McFarland withdraws nomination to be ambassador
WASHINGTON – K.T. McFarland, picked by President Trump as his nominee to become ambassador to Singapore, withdrew on Friday.
McFarland was on Trump’s presidential transition team and later appointed as the deputy national security adviser under Michael Flynn.
Trump had nominated McFarland last May to be the U.S. envoy to Singapore, but when the Senate did not act on the nomination by the end of 2017 the White House resubmitted her nomination in early January.
McFarland’s nomination became stalled over concerns about her testimony to Congress over communications with Russia, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said in December.
“I am asking that you withdraw my nomination to be the U.S. Ambassador to Singapore,” McFarland said in a letter sent to the president, a copy of which was seen by Reuters. “I have come to this decision reluctantly, because I believe in your mission.”
McFarland said in the letter that she believed Trump had “laid the foundations for a new foreign policy that puts America’s interests ahead of, but not at the expense of, our obligations to others.”
“Know that I have no intention of withdrawing from the national debate and I want to help you in whatever way I can,” she said.
Trump accepted her withdrawal, blaming Democrats for playing politics.
“I am disappointed that K.T. McFarland has withdrawn from consideration to be Ambassador to Singapore. K.T. served my Administration with distinction. Unfortunately, some Democrats chose to play politics rather than move forward with a qualified nominee for a critically important post. I wish K.T. the best as she uses her considerable wisdom and skill as a commentator to explain to the American people how to make American foreign policy great again,” the president said in a statement.
McFarland, a former Fox News national security analyst, had said in a written response to a question from a Senate Foreign Relations Committee member that she was “not aware” of communications between Flynn and Sergei Kislyak, when Kislyak was ambassador to Russia.
The New York Times reported it had obtained an email McFarland sent on Dec. 29, 2016, the day former President Obama’s administration authorized new sanctions against Russia, saying Flynn would talk to Kislyak that evening.
Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia, and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors delving into the actions of Trump’s inner circle before he took office.