Senate Democratic aides on Wednesday released new details about the frequent absences of President Donald Trump’s nominee for ambassador to the United Nations, Kelly Craft, from her post as U.S. ambassador to Canada, demonstrating that she was away from Ottawa for an average of 20 days per month over the last eight months.
Those absences occurred after the completion of negotiations for the new trade deal with Canada and Mexico, which Craft cited at her confirmation hearing on Wednesday as a chief reason she was away from her posting. She also said she has made official trips to promote the deal.
Senate aides cited those recent absences and other new details about Craft’s travels to buttress Sen. Bob Menendez’s demand that the State Department provide greater documentation that the trips were for ambassadorial work and not for personal business.
After Menendez (D-N.J.), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, revealed at the hearing that Craft had been out of Ottawa for more than 300 days — about half of the 600 days she’s been in the job — Craft testified that many of the absences were for negotiating and promoting the USMCA.
“This was not a time to socialize,” she testified. “This was a time to work.”
But Democratic aides said the timing of some of the trips raised further questions. For instance, they said, during the period between March 21 and May 13 of 2018 — early in her Canadian tenure — she was only at her post for nine of 54 days and found the time to attend a University of Kentucky basketball game in Atlanta.
In addition, the aides said, during the 35-day government shutdown over the holidays last December and January, while many employees were working without paychecks, Craft was only at the embassy for a single business day.
While some of those absences were likely for official business, including a two-day State Department conference, Democrats say that the Trump administration has not provided extensive enough travel records and calendars to determine which days she was working.
“The bottom line is, without the full record, we can’t evaluate it,” Menendez said, in remarks that were echoed by Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.).
The State Department did not respond to an emailed request for comment on both Craft’s absences and the request for further documentation.
Craft’s frequent travels were first detailed in a POLITICO report on Monday that showed her family jet making 128 flights between the United States and Canada over 15 months, according to Federal Aviation Administration records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
Craft, 57, who previously worked as a business consultant, is from Lexington, Ky., and is married to Joe Craft, a coal magnate. POLITICO reported that some of the plane records correspond with social engagements she attended in her home state, including a trip to the Kentucky Derby.
A State Department spokesperson told POLITICO that all of Craft’s travels “to and from the United States, including numerous trips associated with USMCA negotiations, were pre-approved by the State Department and complied with all Department travel guidelines.”
