It seemed like a pretty straightforward, easy-to-answer question. Asked to fill out a Senate questionnaire about his professional background, U.N. ambassador-nominee John Bolton said he had not been interviewed or given testimony in any federal investigations over the last five years.
As of yesterday afternoon, the Bush administration stood by Bolton’s claim, insisting that the in-writing response to the Senate’s question “was truthful then and it remains the case now.”
A few hours later, the story had changed. Apparently, Bolton is forgetful.
John Bolton, President Bush’s nominee for U.N. ambassador, mistakenly told Congress he had not been interviewed or testified in any investigation over the past five years, the State Department said Thursday.
Bolton was interviewed by the State Department inspector general as part of a joint investigation with the CIA into prewar Iraqi attempts to buy nuclear materials from Niger, State Department spokesman Noel Clay said.
The admission came hours after another State Department official said Bolton had correctly answered a Senate questionnaire when he wrote that he had not testified to a grand jury or been interviewed by investigators in any inquiry over the past five years.
Just to be clear, this isn’t in reference to the Plame scandal, the administration is still denying that Bolton testified before Fitzgerald’s grand jury. Rather, Bolton was interviewed as part of an investigation by the State Department and the CIA into forged documents that led Bush to believe that Iraq had a nuclear program.
Regardless, this is no minor reversal. Bolton clearly didn’t tell the Senate the truth and may have hid his role in the investigation to avoid more embarrassing questions about his professional record. This was a serious probe — for Bolton to claim now that he simply forgot about his interview strains credulity and raises questions anew about his competence and truthfulness.
Bolton’s U.N. nomination couldn’t get through the Senate before, but this kind of debacle should finish off his chances once and for all. Well, it should, but the Bush White House plays by different rules.
President Bush is expected to sidestep Congress and appoint John Bolton, his controversial choice for United Nations ambassador, to the job temporarily because opponents have blocked his confirmation by the Senate, several lawmakers and influential conservatives said Thursday.
Bush is poised to make the hawkish, tough-talking Bolton a recess appointment under a constitutional provision that allows the president to fill a vacancy during a Senate recess. Congress is expected to adjourn for August vacation Saturday or Sunday.
Administration officials wouldn’t discuss Bush’s intentions Thursday, but several senators and conservatives close to the White House think the president will tap Bolton shortly after Congress goes home.
This is straight out of the Bush playbook. If you get caught lying to Congress, you’ll be rewarded anyway.
Remember, no less an authority that Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) has said that that a Bolton recess appointment “would weaken not only Mr. Bolton but also the United States.”
Even Trent Lott (R-Miss.) isn’t happy about the broader implications.
“…I do think it’s a little bit of a thumbing of the nose at the Senate, which will cause you more problems down the road,” Lott said. “We are a co-equal branch; he doesn’t get to make his choices in a vacuum.”
Reward offenders, circumvent Congress, undermine goodwill on the Hill, weaken America’s role on the international stage. Just another day for our president.