Friday, July 29, 2005
BY VICKI ALLEN AND SAUL HUDSON
REUTERS
WASHINGTON -- The State Department reversed itself last night and acknowledged that President Bush's U.N. ambassador nominee gave Congress inaccurate information about an investigation he was involved in.
The acknowledgment came after the State Department had earlier insisted nominee John Bolton's "answer was truthful" when he said he had not been questioned or provided information to jury or government investigations in the past five years.
"When Mr. Bolton completed his form during the Senate confirmation process he did not recall being interviewed by the State Department inspector general. Therefore, his form as submitted was inaccurate in this regard and he will correct the form," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
Earlier, Sen. Joseph Biden (D- Del.). said he had information Bolton was interviewed as part of a joint investigation by the State Department and CIA into intelligence lapses that led to the Bush administration's pre-Iraq war claim that Iraq tried to buy uranium from Niger.
Biden, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, said that should have been noted on the questionnaire, for which nominees swear out affidavits stating the information is true and accurate.
"It now appears that Mr. Bolton's answers may not meet that standard," Biden wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
McCormack also said Bolton was not interviewed in special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation into who leaked the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame. Earlier in the day, reporters questioned McCormack on whether Bolton testified before the federal grand jury investigating the case, as MSNBC reported last week.
Senate Democrats said the State Department should review whether Bolton's responses were accurate or incomplete.
The confirmation of Bolton, a favorite of conservatives, has been held up by accusations he tried to manipulate intelligence and intimidated intelligence analysts to support his hawkish views while in his position as the top U.S. diplomat for arms control.
"It seems unusual that Mr. Bolton would not remember his involvement in such a serious matter. In my mind, this raises more questions that need to be answered. I hope President Bush will not make the mistake of recess appointing Mr. Bolton," Biden said in response to the admission that Bolton's information was inaccurate.
Lacking votes in the Senate to confirm Bolton, the White House has left open the possibility it might appoint him while Congress takes its monthlong summer recess that starts this weekend. A recess appointment would expire in January 2007 when the new Congress convenes.