Corker: McFarland’s nomination ‘frozen’ over contradictions in her testimony

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said Tuesday that former deputy national security adviser K.T. McFarland’s nomination to be the U.S. ambassador to Singapore is “frozen” amid questions over whether she deceived lawmakers about her knowledge of former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s contacts with Russia.

“Her nomination is frozen for a while until that gets worked out,” Corker, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told CNN. “She has to know that herself, and we’ll deal with it at the appropriate time.”

McFarland responded to written questions from Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) in July regarding whether she spoke to Flynn about his contacts with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, saying that she was “not aware of any of the issues or events” referenced. 

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But emails obtained by The New York Times show that McFarland was, in fact, aware of the Dec. 29 phone call between Flynn and Kislyak, in which Flynn urged Kislyak not to retaliate against sanctions imposed by the Obama administration in response to Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Flynn pleaded guilty last week to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Kislyak in the month before Trump took office, and acknowledged that he is cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s role in the election, as well as possible collusion between Trump campaign members and Russians.

Flynn was forced to resign from his White House post in February — just 24 days into his tenure — after it was revealed that he lied to Vice President Pence and others about his contacts with Kislyak.

McFarland left her deputy national security adviser post in April. She was nominated to serve as the ambassador to Singapore in June.