Rockefeller says Bolton mishandled classified docs; Dodd says he'll block

[BurtWorm]

the nomination on the floor until the issue is resolved.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/25/politics/25cnd-bolton.html?hp&ex=1117080000&en=59d61a7219dd749e&ei=5094&partner=homepage

"On at least one occasion," Mr. Rockefeller said in the letter, Mr. Bolton appeared to have shared with another State Department official information that he had received from the security agency about an intercepted communication. Mr. Rockefeller said that Mr. Bolton appeared to have done that even though the security agency had directed that "no further action be taken on this information without prior approval of the N.S.A."

A Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, immediately announced this afternoon that he would seek to block any vote on Mr. Bolton by the full Senate until the committee was provided with further information about his handling of the classified information. (The committee forwarded Mr. Bolton's contentious nomination to the full Senate without endorsement last week, only the third time in 22 years it has done so.)

[fertilizeonarbusto]

1. If Bolton had any self-respect

he'd withdraw his nomination. The only thing that hasn't come out about him is allegations of bestiality.

[woodsprite]

2. Just wait - Hey, did he ever go to church in Louisiana? n/t

[fertilizeonarbusto]

5. HAR!!!!!!!!!!!

:rofl:

[mike_c]

3. Bolton: "It's all good-- at least they haven't found out...'

"...about my first girlfriend, the mule!" :rofl:

[LynneSin]

4. Any real president would have withdrawn this nomination

But instead we have an idiot that lives with the ideology that we'll do whatever he says or he'll take his toys and find another sandbox to play in

[saltpoint]

6. I think fertilizeonarbusto is right -- where is Bolton's self-respect?

Wait -- I just realized I'm asking that question about a REPUBLICAN warmonger.

Where's my brain today?

But it's a good point. Long before now someone in that goddamned White House should have told Dubya that Bolton was too explosive and to pick someone else. How about Lugar, if it HAS to be a Republican? I'm not a big Lugar fan, but next to Bolton, he looks like Jesus.

[rkc3]

7. Even Kerik was smarter than this guy.

[BurtWorm]

8. Seriously, Bolton clearly doesn't know the meaning of the word.

"Self" he probably understands, but "respect" is evidently not in his vocabulary.

[BurtWorm]

9. Rockefeller's letter is on Laurie Rozen's warandpiece.com blog:

Here's a key section:

http://www.warandpiece.com/


It is important to note, however, that our Committee did not interview Mr. Bolton, so I am unable to answer directly the question of why he felt it was necessary for him to have the identity information in order to better understand the foreign intelligence contained in the report.

Furthermore, based on the information available to me, I do not have a complete understanding of Mr. Bolton’s handling of the identity information after he received it.

The Committee has learned during its interview of Mr. Frederick Fleitz, Mr. Bolton’s acting Chief of Staff, that on at least one occasion Mr. Bolton is alleged to have shared the un-minimized identity information he received from the NSA with another individual in the State Department. In this instance, the NSA memorandum forwarding the requested identity to State INR included the following restriction: “Request no further action be taken on this information without prior approval of NSA.” I have confirmed with the NSA that the phrase “no further action” includes sharing the requested identity of U.S. persons with any individual not authorized by the NSA to receive the identity.

In addition to being troubled that Mr. Bolton may have shared U.S. person identity information without required NSA approval, I am concerned that the reason for sharing the information was not in keeping with Mr. Bolton’s requested justification for the identity in the first place. The identity information was provided to Mr. Bolton based on the stated reason that he needed to know the identity in order to better under the foreign intelligence contained in the NSA report. According to Mr. Fleitz, Mr. Bolton used the information he was provided in one instance in order to seek out the State Department official mentioned in the report to congratulate him. This use of carefully minimized U.S. person identity information seems to be not in keeping with the rationale provided in Mr. Bolton’s request.

[BurtWorm]

10. TWN: Was Bolton spying on spies to find out what they said about him?

http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/000655.html


TWN has learned that most of the intercepts are clustered around two periods of time in 2003 and 2004. Speculation abounds that the intercepts may show patterns of serious misjudgement on Bolton's part and a 'personal vanity' trying to learn what others were saying about him -- not an appropriate justification for delving into the nation's 'most secret' secrets.

Since the Hayden briefing of Rockefeller and Roberts, others have been called to the Committee for further investigation of this matter -- including the Bolton-victimized State Department INR analyst Christian Westermann and Bolton's former chief of staff, Fred Fleitz.

Interestingly, Fleitz never gave up his portfolio of responsibilities at the CIA while he was working for Bolton -- which thus helps explain why so much unpackaged intel was constantly coming from certain corners of the CIA to bolster Bolton's crusades. Interestingly, Fleitz, on Bolton's behalf, was playing the CIA and State INR off of each other, constantly cherry-picking the intel that fit Bolton's needs and rarely respecting either CIA intel packaging procedures, or State Department INR procedures.

The Intelligence Committee also met other intelligence analysts as well -- and there is an ongoing "inquiry" into what Bolton and Fleitz did with the intelligence they lifted from the NSA intercepts. Some might even call this an "investigation" into Bolton.

[Coexist]

11. Voinovich is on now tearing Bolton up

You'd think he was a filthy liberal!

[BurtWorm]

12. Sounds like there's a lot of filth sticking to Bolton.

I'll bet the Repubs are trying to jold their noses and vote him in to show they're still "united." :eyes:

PS: That's a stuipid game they're playing, if that really is what they're doing. It's going to come back and bite their asses off.