Posted on 04/20/2005 9:18:27 AM PDT by ArmyBratproud
The woman whose testimony now threatens to derail John Bolton's nomination as U.N. ambassador claims he was "genuinely behaving like a madman" during a 1994 trip to Moscow.
But she's a self-described "liberal Democrat" who helped organize the Dallas chapter of "Mothers Opposing Bush" during last year's presidential campaign.
Story Continues Below
Melody Townsel first offered her bizarre allegation to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on April 8, in a letter claiming that during a trip ten years ago to Kyrgyzstan, Bolton chased her through the halls of a her hotel throwing objects and screaming threats.
In her unlikely account Ms. Townsel said the harassment was not sexual.
Still, her uncorroborated story appears to have prompted at least one key Republican on the committee to withdraw his support for Bolton, forcing a delay in the vote.
"I don't feel comfortable voting today," Ohio Republican George Voinovich told the committee on Tuesday. "I think we ought to get the information [and] get a chance to have [the allegations] rebutted," he added.
Ms. Townsel was a subcontractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development at the time she and Bolton worked together.
"For nearly two weeks, while I awaited fresh direction from my company and from USAID, John Bolton hounded me in such an appalling way that I eventually retreated to my hotel room and stayed there," Townsel claimed, in quotes first reported by the New York Sun on Monday.
"Mr. Bolton, of course, then routinely visited me there to pound on the door and shout threats," she continued.
The paper also uncovered the Bolton accuser's anti-Bush credentials.
Townsel's allegations which were touted by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's ranking Democrat, Joe Biden, who told his colleagues on Tuesday that the Bolton accuser was willing to sign a sworn affidavit to back her story.
Biden read from Townsel's letter:
"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."
But in an interview with the Sun, Townsel admitted that she has no witnesses to back her claims. "There were people aware of the harassment, but they are not willing to come forward because they have existing business with the government," she said.
Townsel also admitted she was a staunch Bush basher, explaining, "There is no question that I have been a vocal and outspoken critic of this administration and I am a very liberal Democrat."
Asked why she didn't go public with her complaint in 2001, when Bolton's nomination for undersecretary of state was being considered by the same committee, Townsel said that at the time she had retreated from politics and was raising young children.
Townsel and ABH have friends in the media...
so they knew how to push the bogus charges
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/4/15/101542/050
Media has thus far ignored (4.00 / 44)
I sent it to a friend at WaPo, who said she sent it to the relevant reporter, and Melody sent it to the Dallas Morning News' Washington bureau. I believe, though I'm not certain, that she sent it to all the members of the Sen. Foreign Relations Cmte., and none of them have seen fit to call her.
She has actually become physically depressed reliving this whole thing (though it pales in comparison to the depression she had when it was going on, as she was holed up in a hotel with nothing to watch but "The Cutting Edge," that ice skating movie with D.B. Sweeney and Moira Kelly.).
At this point, she's put it out there. If the Senate ignores it, she can't say she didn't try.
by amyindallas on Fri Apr 15th, 2005 at 07:45:11 PDT
[ Parent ]
So if that is really the case......Barbara Boxer posts on a web site run by people who say that, "when terrorist kill Americans in Irag....the Americans have it coming"
If that is the case...and it gets out....Boxer is toast.
Are we surprised??
She is part of the same group who does NOT want to reform the UN from their corrupt, stealing, raping of young girls and murderous ways
See this:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1391438/posts
Bolton Accuser Admits Plagiarism at Daily Kos
http://www.classicalvalues.com/archives/002241.html
letter from Melody Townsel's employer:
http://www.nationalreview.com/pdf/IBTCI%20Letter.pdf
bttt
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.