John Bolton Nomination Update
Here's a new development in the unfolding John Bolton flap. It appears I may have been too hasty in declaring Bolton DOA about two weeks ago, as several Republicans who were formerly skeptical of the atrocious Bush nominee have now appeared to have withdrawn some of their concerns.
However, the reliable Democrat Joe Biden seems to have filled the leadership void, aggressively coming forward to demand documents from the Administration about Bolton's egregious conduct.
Only time will tell how this riveting story will develop. This story is taken from the Financial Times with links to another similar story in the New York Times. Read on:
A major new showdown is brewing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee over John Bolton. With hearings approaching on May 12, senators investigating Bolton are deeply frustrated that requests for several relevant State Department and National Security Agency documents have been repeatedly denied.
According to the New York Times, minority members are now "threatening to abandon an agreement to move toward a swift vote on the nomination" if administration officials continue to obstruct access to the information.
The committee's ranking minority member, Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE), yesterday wrote a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice demanding documents that allegedly show Bolton "skewed intelligence and tried to remove analysts who refused to endorse his conclusions while serving as under-secretary of state for arms control."
Committee members are also interested in ten NSA intercepts requested by John Bolton, which included names of U.S. officials whose identities had been redacted from the transcripts and then queried by Bolton.
Those documents currently "sit on Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte's desk – with a recommendation for approval from the National Security Agency – waiting for the bureaucratic wheels of Negroponte's new operation to move."
However, the reliable Democrat Joe Biden seems to have filled the leadership void, aggressively coming forward to demand documents from the Administration about Bolton's egregious conduct.
Only time will tell how this riveting story will develop. This story is taken from the Financial Times with links to another similar story in the New York Times. Read on:
A major new showdown is brewing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee over John Bolton. With hearings approaching on May 12, senators investigating Bolton are deeply frustrated that requests for several relevant State Department and National Security Agency documents have been repeatedly denied.
According to the New York Times, minority members are now "threatening to abandon an agreement to move toward a swift vote on the nomination" if administration officials continue to obstruct access to the information.
The committee's ranking minority member, Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE), yesterday wrote a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice demanding documents that allegedly show Bolton "skewed intelligence and tried to remove analysts who refused to endorse his conclusions while serving as under-secretary of state for arms control."
Committee members are also interested in ten NSA intercepts requested by John Bolton, which included names of U.S. officials whose identities had been redacted from the transcripts and then queried by Bolton.
Those documents currently "sit on Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte's desk – with a recommendation for approval from the National Security Agency – waiting for the bureaucratic wheels of Negroponte's new operation to move."
