CONGRESS

Kelly Craft absent from post for over 300 days, records show

The U.N. ambassador nominee committed to Sen. Menendez that she'd provide complete records of all the times she left her post as U.S. ambassador to Canada.

By LAUREN GARDNER 06/19/2019 11:14 AM EDT Updated 06/19/2019 04:23 PM EDT

U.S. Ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft was absent from her post for more than 300 days during her tenure in Ottawa, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's top Democrat said today during Craft's confirmation hearing to become the American envoy to the U.N.

The disclosure comes days after POLITICO reported about questions surrounding the frequency of Craft's travel outside of Canada. Craft has served for about 600 days since she formally took over the ambassador post in late October 2017, so she was out of the country for at least half the time she has served, based on the State Department records.

Craft committed to Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) that she'd provide complete records of all the times she left her post. But Menendez said there were "discrepancies" in information she had turned over to him before the hearing. ... Menendez said the records, which he illustrated on charts of calendars with days absent from her post highlighted in red, show trips listed as official travel, although some of them occurred while Craft was back in Kentucky. There also appears to be additional travel not reflected in the record, he said, based on social media posts.

From March 21 through May 13, Menendez said, Craft was absent from her post 45 out of 54 days.
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