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Post by Moses on Apr 14, 2005 8:03:13 GMT -5
Nominee to UN post called a 'serial abuser' BY SONNI EFRON LOS ANGELES TIMES April 13, 2005 WASHINGTON - A former State Department intelligence chief testified yesterday that John R. Bolton was a "serial abuser" of underlings and tried to have an intelligence analyst who disagreed with him removed.
Bolton was "a quintessential kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy," said Carl Ford Jr., former assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research.
But it appeared that Ford's testimony had not changed the votes of any of the Republicans who hold a 10-8 majority on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Democrats signaled that they might subpoena two intelligence analysts supposedly mistreated by Bolton.
A committee vote could come tomorrow or early next week, sending the nomination of Bolton to be ambassador to the United Nations to the floor of the Senate, where it would presumably be approved on a party-line vote.
Ford testified on the second day of contentious hearings over the nomination of Bolton, 56, the undersecretary of state for arms control and international security.
Yesterday's testimony was solicited to cast doubts on Bolton's character, not his politics. Ford is a career intelligence officer who retired after more than 30 years in the Army, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon and the State Department's own intelligence unit.
Ford described himself as "a loyal Republican and conservative to the core." He said he felt awkward testifying against the president's nominee and had agreed to do so only after committee Democrats suggested they might subpoena him.
Ford went on to denounce Bolton's treatment of subordinates and his attempts to bully intelligence analysts who disagreed with him, saying, "There are a lot of screamers in government," but "I've never seen anyone like Secretary Bolton ... in terms of how he abuses little people."
Ford denied Republican senators' suggestions that his testimony might be prompted by personal animosity. "I'm as conservative as John Bolton is," Ford testified, adding, "It is out of bounds in the federal bureaucracy to let a bully run wild on the people."
Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) noted that Ford had said he had direct knowledge of only one incident in which he said Bolton had attempted to intimidate a low-ranking intelligence analyst, Christian Westermann, who had refused to clear language about Cuba's biological weapons program that Bolton wanted to include in a speech.
The Los Angeles Times is a Tribune Co. newspaper. Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.
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Post by Moses on Apr 14, 2005 8:09:58 GMT -5
Underlings Paint Poor Picture of Bolton By DONNA CASSATA Associated Press Writer April 13, 2005, 10:12 PM EDT WASHINGTON -- This city has its share of demanding, furniture-chewing, volatile bosses -- and then there's U.N. ambassador-nominee John R. Bolton, according to underlings at the State Department. "It's an 800-pound gorilla devouring a banana," Carl Ford Jr., a former chief at the department's bureau of intelligence and research, told Congress this week in recounting Bolton's treatment of an analyst further down the food chain. Current and past government employees drew a truly unflattering portrait of Bolton, the undersecretary of state for arms control who has been tapped by President Bush to be the U.S. diplomat at the United Nations, the world's peacekeeping organization. "Tirades," "finger-shaking" and "red in the face" were among the words and descriptions in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and written transcripts of interviews released by the panel. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice came to the nominee's defense on Wednesday. "That is certainly not the John Bolton I know," said Rice, who moved to the State Department from the White House in January. At the Senate hearing, officials recalled Bolton's anger after an intelligence analyst, Christian P. Westermann, tried to change the language in Bolton's speech about whether Cuba was developing chemical and biological weapons. "Midlevel ... munchkin analyst" was how Bolton described Westermann, a retired Navy lieutenant commander with 23 years of experience in the service and a handful of years on intelligence research at the State Department. Westermann described for committee staff his encounter with Bolton. "And he got red in the face and shaking his finger at me and explained to me that I was acting way beyond my position, and for someone who worked for him. I told him I didn't work for him," Westermann said. "Basically threw me out of his office." In testimony Monday, Bolton said he lost trust in Westermann and thought he should work on other assignments. He dismissed the brouhaha, saying, "There is nothing there, there, and I would put it all out on the public record -- all of it." According to the transcripts, Bolton told Thomas Fingar, the assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Intelligence Research, about his encounter with Westermann, and indicated he was stunned at the analyst's attitude. Bolton said that he himself "was the president's appointee, that he had every right to say what he believed, that he wasn't going to be told what he could say by a midlevel INR (Intelligence Research) munchkin analyst," Fingar said. Ford, who has worked for Vice President Dick Cheney and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, told the senators that Bolton was the "quintessential kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy. There are a lot of them around. I'm sure you've met them." "But the fact is that he stands out, that he's got a bigger kick and it gets bigger and stronger the further down the bureaucracy he's kicking." The Republican-controlled committee is expected to approve Bolton's nomination and send it to the full Senate. Democrats did succeed on Wednesday in forcing a delay in the committee vote until next week so State Department officials can be questioned in writing.
Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.
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Post by Moses on Apr 14, 2005 8:21:06 GMT -5
<br> Questioning John BoltonThe New York Times Thursday, April 14, 2005The longer John Bolton's Senate hearing for the post of America's UN representative went on, the more outrageous it seemed that President George W. Bush could have nominated a man who had made withering disdain for that world body the signature of his career in international affairs. Some fear that the aim is to scuttle the United Nations. It's more likely, but just as disturbing, that this is another example of Bush's rewarding loyalty rather than holding officials accountable for mistakes, especially those who helped build the case for war with Iraq. Whatever the explanation, the hearing held by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee only added reasons for denying the job to Bolton. It turned up a third incident (we already knew of two) in which Bolton tried to have an intelligence analyst punished for stopping him from making false claims about a weapons program in another nation, notably Cuba. Trying to tailor intelligence is enough to disqualify Bolton from this job. But the hearings also provided a detailed indictment of his views on the United Nations, multilateral diplomacy and treaties. Bolton tried, but failed, to explain away his long public record of attacking the United Nations. Senator Barbara Boxer dealt neatly with Bolton's lament that he was being misquoted by playing a videotape of a 1994 speech in which he said: "There is no United Nations. There is an international community that occasionally can be led by the only real power left in the world - that's the United States - when it suits our interests and when we can get others to go along." Bolton tried to convince the senators that he was just being provocative with those remarks and that as UN ambassador, he would confine his utterances to official policy vetted by appropriate agencies, like the State Department. But much of the hearing focused on Bolton's contempt for that process, especially on his attempts to have a State Department intelligence analyst punished for stopping him from misrepresenting intelligence on Cuba.Bolton wanted to give a speech saying that "the United States believes that Cuba has a developmental offensive biological warfare program and is providing assistance to other rogue state programs." That sounds scary, but it was not true, and U.S. intelligence agencies did not think it was. But according to numerous accounts, Bolton became enraged when an analyst from the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research pointed out the error and tried to have the analyst removed from his post. Bolton's attempts to dodge accountability were almost comical. At one point, explaining a trip to the CIA in which he tried to have an analyst for Latin America on the National Intelligence Council removed for a similar act, Bolton said he had gone there only to learn what the council does. The explanation was not remotely believable from someone with Bolton's background in national security. [He's a liar, too-- shouldn't this disqualify him?] Carl Ford Jr., who led the State Department's intelligence office at the time and is now retired, flatly contradicted Bolton's claim that he hadn't tried to have the State Department analyst fired. His appearance was a personal risk, given the way the administration vilified another intelligence officer, Richard Clarke, who challenged its line on the Sept. 11 attacks. Ford called Bolton a "kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy" and said the intimidation had had a lasting effect on his department. Some of Bolton's Republican allies tried the "no harm, no foul" ploy, saying his misbehavior shouldn't count because he had ended up giving an accurate speech. Others said Bolton's behavior was just a question of his management style. But they are wrong. With the credibility of the United States as low as it is, the last thing it needs is a UN envoy who tries to force intelligence into an ideological construct.
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Post by Moses on Apr 14, 2005 8:36:34 GMT -5
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Post by Moses on Apr 14, 2005 8:38:46 GMT -5
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Post by Moses on Apr 19, 2005 7:37:19 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2005/04/19/politics/19bolton.html?th=&emc=th&pagewanted=print&position=....The panel's Republican chairman, Senator Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, plans to urge the panel to vote in favor of Mr. Bolton. "I do not think the concerns raised about Secretary Bolton warrant our rejection of the president's selection for his own representative to the U.N.," Mr. Lugar said in a statement. Mr. Lugar has said he expects all 10 Republicans on the panel ultimately to vote in favor of the nomination. But Senator Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island has said he is uncommitted, and over the weekend, Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska said he had some reservations. The panel's eight Democrats are expected to oppose the nomination. On Monday, one of former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell's top aides spoke out in opposition to Mr. Bolton.
"Under Secretary Bolton was never the formidable power that people are insinuating he was in terms of foreign policy, or blocking the policies that Secretary Powell wished to pursue," Lawrence Wilkerson, who served as Mr. Powell's chief of staff, said in a telephone interview.
"But do I think John Bolton would make a good ambassador to the United Nations? Absolutely not," Mr. Wilkerson said. "He is incapable of listening to people and taking into account their views. He would be an abysmal ambassador."
Mr. Wilkerson said he had conveyed his views to senators and staff members on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.Neither Mr. Powell nor Richard L. Armitage, who served as deputy secretary of state under Mr. Powell, have commented publicly about Mr. Bolton's nomination. Their offices have not replied to repeated inquiries. Mr. Powell was not among a group of five Republican former secretaries of state who sent the committee a letter that endorsed Mr. Bolton's nomination.Over the weekend, Mr. Hagel said on CNN that "right now, if there's nothing more that comes out," he would vote in favor of Mr. Bolton's nomination. But Mr. Hagel added that he had been "troubled with more and more allegations, revelations, coming about his style, his method of operation." Interviewed on CNN's "Late Edition," he said: "We need a uniter. We need a builder. We need someone who will reach out to our friends and our allies at the United Nations." Democratic Congressional officials said that when the committee meets on Tuesday, Mr. Biden would seek to delay a vote and would outline at least five allegations of what they call abusive behavior by of Mr. Bolton, including his efforts to seek the removal of three government officials from their posts during his service as an under secretary of state. The officials said the committee was still reviewing three additional allegations, but declined to discuss them, saying that the committee had yet to verify them. "Senator Biden thinks we need to take more time to review the allegations that have been raised, and he hopes the majority will agree with that," an aide to Mr. Biden said Monday. Mr. Bolton submitted replies late Monday afternoon to a number of written questions about the allegations that Democrats sent to him after he testified before the committee last week, according to Democratic Congressional officials. Among the answers, one official said, was an acknowledgment that Mr. Bolton had requested information from the National Security Agency on 10 different occasions since 2001 about the identity of American government officials who participated in or were discussed in communications intercepted by the agency.
Mr. Bolton said all 10 of his requests were granted by the N.S.A., but declined to say anything more about the nature of the conversations or why he sought the information. In his public testimony last week, Mr. Bolton had acknowledged making the requests "on a couple occasions, maybe a few more." Mr. Bolton acknowledged in his testimony that he sought the replacement of two officials: Fulton T. Armstrong, a Central Intelligence Agency analyst who was serving at the time, in 2002, as national intelligence officer for Latin America; and Christian P. Westermann, an intelligence official who is the State Department's top biological weapons analyst. Mr. Bolton said he had acted because he had lost confidence in the officials, but other witnesses have told the committee that Mr. Bolton was acting out of a disagreement with an intelligence assessment on Cuba.Neither of those two officials was removed from his post. Witnesses have said that both Mr. Powell and John E. McLaughlin, the deputy director of central intelligence, intervened in the cases to reassure intelligence officials troubled by Mr. Bolton's actions. The other three known cases being reviewed by the Senate panel involve Rexon Ryu, a State Department official who clashed with Mr. Bolton and now serves on Mr. Hagel's staff, and two cases that occurred before Mr. Bolton came to the State Department, the Congressional officials said. One of the cases involved a dispute with a senior Justice Department lawyer over the length of her maternity leave in 1988, when Mr. Bolton headed the Justice Department's civil division.
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Post by Moses on Apr 19, 2005 21:16:16 GMT -5
Vote on Bolton U.N. nomination postponed as Democrats protest in committee By Anne Gearan The Associated Press WASHINGTON — John R. Bolton's nomination as U.N. ambassador suffered an unexpected setback today when a Republican-controlled Senate committee scrapped plans for a vote in favor of a fresh look at allegations of unbecoming conduct. The delay throws President Bush's provocative choice for the U.N. job into limbo. Despite his history of hostility to the United Nations and a reputation for blunt talk and a hard head, Bolton had appeared on his way to confirmation. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee set no new date for a vote, but a delay of at least two weeks seems likely while the committee looks into new allegations, including those of a Dallas businesswoman who says an irate Bolton chased her through a hotel and threw things at her at an international conference a decade ago. White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Bush stood by Bolton unequivocally. "John Bolton is exactly the person we need at the United Nations at this time," he said. The decision to postpone a vote closed a rancorous session in which some Democrats bluntly questioned Bolton's veracity and repeatedly appealed for more time to investigate Bolton. "We'll all have to trust each other," said Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., the committee chairman, in sealing the unanimous agreement. Republicans hold a 10-8 majority on the panel, and Lugar had sounded confident early in the session that he had the votes to prevail. He pushed hard for an immediate vote, over loud objection from Democrats.
"Shocking," muttered Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., as Lugar tried to hustle the process along. The tide turned when Ohio Republican Sen. George Voinovich spoke for the first time. He did not attend Bolton's two-day confirmation hearing last week but had been presumed to be a supporter. "I don't feel comfortable voting today," Voinovich said. Another Republican, Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, also expressed reservations about a quick vote and warned that he may not support Bolton's nomination if it does move to the full Senate. After the meeting, Voinovich said he had planned to support Bolton but changed his mind after an impassioned critique from Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn. Voinovich said he does not fear retribution from the White House, which had counted on solid Republican support on the committee. "The passion on the other side on this, I don't think is political," Voinovich told reporters. "I think they raised some legitimate issues. I think we ought to find out what they are. I think we ought to get the information, get a chance to have (the allegations) rebutted," Voinovich said. Bolton may be asked to return for more testimony, and the committee may also now call additional witnesses, Democrats said afterward. New witnesses could include government workers who would fear for their jobs if they come forward on their own, said Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, the senior Democrat on the panel. Democrats on the committee said they were continuing to receive fresh allegations of Bolton's behavior with subordinates and colleagues that was imperious or worse.
Biden read from what he said was a letter from a U.S. Agency for International Development worker in Kyrgyzstan who alleged Bolton harassed her — not sexually — while he was in private practice representing a company.
"She's prepared to provide an affidavit. The letter she sent in, and I'm going to just take a second here, it says, 'When I was dispatching a letter to AID, my hell began. Mr. Bolton proceeded to chase me through the halls of a Russian hotel, throwing things at me, shoving threatening letters under my door, and genuinely behaving like a madman. I eventually retreated to my hotel room and stayed there. Mr. Bolton then routinely visited me to pound on the door and shout threats."' The committee's delay came after the White House expressed renewed support for Bolton and Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid had all but conceded the nomination would be cleared for a floor vote. Republicans have 55 votes in the 100-member Senate. Lugar claimed the support needed to prevail as he began the committee meeting. A quick test vote suggested he was correct, as Republicans used their 10-8 majority to vote down a Democratic attempt to air new complaints about Bolton in private.
"We were not born yesterday," Lugar told the eight Democrats on the panel. "The Republicans want to vote for John Bolton. There are 10 Republicans here." "Is the chairman saying it doesn't matter what we know about John Bolton?" asked Kerry. "If you don't know some of the allegations that have come across the transom then you are voting in the blind. Maybe you want to vote in the blind." Critics' allegations have painted Bolton as a hothead who dressed down junior bureaucrats and withheld information from his superiors in his current job as the State Department's arms control chief. Democratic senators raised repeated questions at Bolton's confirmation hearing last week about what Bolton may have done to punish or pressure underlings who crossed him. A senior colleague called him a "serial abuser." Bolton denied he did anything improper but said he had "lost confidence" in two intelligence analysts who disagreed with him. Bolton, 56, has served four years at the State Department, but he is not a diplomat by training. He was an assistant attorney general in the Justice Department under the first President Bush and held other government jobs during the Reagan administration. A Yale Law School graduate, Bolton has been a lawyer in private practice and an academic. He is considered one of Bush's most conservative advisers on foreign policy, and one of the most caustic. He has said, for example, that the loss of 10 stories from the United Nations headquarters building in New York would make no difference.
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Post by Moses on Apr 19, 2005 21:34:13 GMT -5
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