Rice w/withhold Bolton NSA transcripts - EMAIL JOE BIDEN HERE [View All]

[cyberpj]

Rice's Reason for Withholding Bolton Files: A Chilling Effect

By DOUGLAS JEHL
Published: May 9, 2005
WASHINGTON, May 8 - The State Department is refusing to make public internal documents sought by Senate Democrats in their attempt to seek more information about repeated clashes between John R. Bolton and American intelligence agencies over Syria, administration officials say.

In rejecting the request, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said that the information involves "internal deliberations" and their disclosure could have a chilling effect on debates within the administration.

The decision was spelled out in a letter that Ms. Rice sent Friday to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which is evaluating the administration's nomination of Mr. Bolton to be the United States ambassador to the United Nations. Republicans on the panel had declined to endorse the Democratic request, but the State Department had not previously made its position clear.

The decision by Ms. Rice prompted a sharp new protest from Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, the top Democrat on the panel, who described the move as a lack of cooperation by the administration into the panel's examination of Mr. Bolton.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/09/politics/09bolton.html

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The next meeting on this isn't until Thursday at 10am so we have plenty of time to tell Joe to hold his ground.

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