Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) says he is going into a Wednesday meeting with Kari Lake with an “open mind” as he weighs whether to sink her nomination as ambassador to Jamaica.
Curtis has previously expressed reservations about Lake, a GOP firebrand who embraced President Donald Trump’s stolen election claims as a candidate for governor and then Senate in Arizona. She later led a crusade to shutter the Voice of America, a government-funded broadcaster, before a federal judge ruled that the president improperly elevated her as its de facto leader.
“I’m anxious to hear what she has to say,” Curtis told the Washington Examiner. “I try to approach things with an open mind, and I think I’ll have some hard questions about how she represents us over there, but I’ll be open-minded.”
Curtis is not the only Republican concerned about the ambassadorship. The Washington Examiner previously reported that Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) plans to oppose Lake’s nomination if it reaches the Senate floor.
But Curtis’s role as a member of the Foreign Relations Committee gives him outsize sway. If he votes “no” and all Democrats join him, the vote deadlocks and her nomination effectively fails.
Curtis has also been willing to wield his influence as a swing vote on the committee. Back in February, he opposed Jeremy Carl, a nominee for the State Department, over his comments on race and “white identity.” Carl eventually dropped out of the running after a bruising confirmation hearing.
Curtis would not point to a particular statement Lake has made that’s given him pause, saying instead, “It’s a body of work.” But he described the purpose of the meeting, first reported by the Washington Examiner, as a chance to give her the benefit of the doubt.
“I’m the first to know that what’s out there is not necessarily what represents somebody, so that’s why I’m meeting with her, to hear from her myself,” he said.
Two other Republicans on the Foreign Relations Committee said they would support Lake’s nomination. One of them, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), said that Lake has frequently traveled to Jamaica and has a “great connection” to the island country.
“I talk to Kari all the time,” said Lee, Curtis’s Utah colleague. “She’s terrific.”
Lake was nominated last month alongside Doug Mastriano, another Trump ally expected to draw Republican opposition. His nomination to be ambassador to the Slovak Republic is controversial due to his VIP attendance at a rally outside the Capitol before the Jan. 6 riot and efforts to help overturn the 2020 presidential election results.
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Mastriano previously mounted a failed run for Pennsylvania governor. As of now, Curtis said he has no meeting scheduled with him.
Lake did not respond to a request for comment.