Former Senator Bob Corker, who was the chair of the Senate's foreign relations committee before he retired in January, held up Manchester's nomination.
"We had concerns about judgment, about demeanor, about just the whole reason for taking the job," Corker said.
He found McDaniel's fundraising pitch problematic. "The timing of that request obviously was not appropriate," he said.
Even worse, he said, was Manchester's response. His big mistake was copying staffers of two senators who controlled his nomination, Kentucky's Rand Paul and Idaho's Jim Risch, alerting them to his willingness to donate more after confirmation.
"I can only tell you that if I received an email like that, there would have been a five-bell alarm that went off," Corker said.
And that's exactly what happened. Risch alerted the White House, which then asked Manchester to withdraw.
The White House did not immediately respond for comment.
Manchester officially pulled out in October, citing personal reasons.
