Senate Foreign Relations Committee ~ nomination of John Bolton [LIVE Thread]

C-span3 ^ | 5-12-05 | Foreign Relations Committe

[OXENinFLA]

ON CAPITOL HILL Bolton Vote in Committee The Senate Foreign Relations Committee conducts a debate and vote on the nomination of John Bolton as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Chair Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Ranking Member Joseph Biden (D-DE) continue a review of the nominee, based on issues raised at the committee's April 19 business meeting. 10AM-3:30PM ET ON C-SPAN3

[Txsleuth]

The more I think about it, the more I wonder why Biden made the statement that since Voinivich was going to get part of the first hour, that it didn't bother him as much as it would have if any other rep. senator was going to get time before him......

I wonder if Biden has threatened Voinivich will bodily harm if he votes for Bolton, so he doesn't mind if Voin. gets as much time as he wants....

[ken5050]

Cute..very cute..LOL

[SolomoninSouthDakota]

Now what? You expect them to vote while several GOPers are in Cmmtt. trying to get Bolton through? We need a tad of patience, no?

[So Cal Rocket]

If Bolton gets filibustered, Bush should use a Recess Appointment and appoint Zell Miller.

[Txsleuth]

I read an article here on FR last night that said that Biden and Dodds havent' decided yet, but they are seriously thinking of filibustering him on the Senate floor...

You KNOW that is what they are planning...

[TomGuy]

The common lie of the hearing will be that Bolton lied about intelligence reports.

Dems are between the proverbial rock and hard-place.

Bolton didn't believe the Intel about WMD. But then, GWB did, and went to war in Iraq, but such intel was wrong as there were no WMD. And Bolton is now being criticized for not believing the intel about the existence of WMD, which didn't exist, when GWB went to war.

lol. The Dems make John Kerry proud with all that flipflopping.

[Eagle of Liberty]

I have grown to dislike that guy very much.

[EllaMinnow]

Lugar spanking Townsel...

[OXENinFLA]

OH YEAH..GO Lugar...........He's tearing apart Townsen..........

She changed her letter OH REALLY??? I didn't hear that in the news!!

[Perdogg]

wrong! If Bolton gets filibustered, the GOP should cut off ALL funding for the UN. See how Commie Boxer likes that!

[CAluvdubya]

Anyone want to take bets on how long Lugar will talk? Biden? Boxer? Could make this more interesting until the fireworks start. heh

[Carolinamom]

She changed her letter? Please give details.

[epluribus_2]

... Adding phrase "quiet interesting" to the FreepSpeak Dictionary (tm) right before the "vey series" entry...

[epluribus_2]

booyaah!

[prairiebreeze]

Good for Lugar!

[tiredoflaundry]

bump

[Eagle of Liberty]

Her ORIGINAL CHARGE HAS BEEN OVERSTATED.

Do the RATS do anything else but overstate things?

[OXENinFLA]

How about I just give you what Lugar just said?

---

http://lugar.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=237538

One of the most sensationalized accusations against Secretary Bolton is that 11 years ago, he chased a woman around a Moscow hotel throwing things at her. This is problematic first because the behavior described seems so out of place. But secondly, because it has been very difficult for our staffs, despite many hours of interviews on this matter, to ascertain just what happened.

The woman, Melody Townsel, who lives in Dallas, admits that she is a liberal Democrat who worked for Mothers Opposing Bush in the last election. Ms. Townsel also told our staffs that her original accusation, contained in a letter that was made public, may have been too strong in some places. She said: “’Chasing’ may not be the best word.” What she meant was that Secretary Bolton would approach her whenever he saw her at the hotel where they were both staying because, as she describes it, she did not want to meet with him over a legal matter. It is important to remember that Secretary Bolton was a private lawyer at that time. He was not representing the U.S. government. He was working for a company against which Ms. Townsel had made some very serious charges — charges which proved unfounded — that could have cost his company an important USAID contract in the former Soviet Union.

Ms. Townsel provided no eyewitnesses to the incidents, which are said to have occurred in public or open areas of the hotel. Moreover, although she claimed this was a highly traumatic encounter and that she told several people about it, staff had difficulty finding others who knew about it. Three people whom Ms. Townsel identified as having heard her complaints at the time of the events told staff that they had no recollection of Ms. Townsel mentioning Mr. Bolton. Her boss, Charles Black, of Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly, who hired her for the post, said she never mentioned it to him. Neither did her immediate supervisor back in Washington. An employee of a sister company who assisted Ms. Townsel in making her charges against the prime contractor on her project and with whom she said she was in close touch at the time, also knows nothing about it. Staffs talked to three representatives of the contractor, a small Virginia firm which has long experience working for USAID overseas. Those officials also heard nothing about this encounter. They said that Secretary Bolton was in Moscow at that time, but he was working as a consultant for a health project they were involved in, not doing legal work for them. We did find one of her friends and co-workers from that time, who was not in Moscow, who recalls talking with her by telephone about it, as well as a subordinate of hers in a later USAID-funded project who recalls her mentioning it.

Ultimately, the results of the lengthy investigation into this isolated, long-ago incident are, at most, inconclusive. Ms. Townsel went on to another USAID project in the former Soviet Union, and the company she accused of mismanagement was awarded more USAID contracts and continues to be well regarded. The original charge against Secretary Bolton appears to be overstated. On the basis of what we do know, there is nothing to offset Secretary Bolton’s long record of public service in several different administrations.

[JustaCowgirl]

I think FReepers may need to negotiate group rates on anger management classes before this is all over.

[Howlin]

Over here!