The timing of John Bolton’s possible recess appointment early next week just as we’re sitting down with the North Koreans after a year-long hiatus in the six-party talks reminds me that, however sketchy Bolton’s conduct at State, the chief reason to oppose his appointment is the blow it would deal to U.S. national security.
I’d like to thank Steve for inviting me in as one of his guest bloggers over the next few days. In my day job, I write for the New York Post. Previous stops include the Republican National Committee and former Speaker Newt Gingrich’s office.
Despite yesterday’s acknowledgement that John Bolton potentially committed perjury by misinforming the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as to whether he had been interviewed as part of an investigation, Scott McClellan spoke today to Bush’s continued support for the nominee.
If word out of the White House is to be believed, John Bolton will receive a recess appointment early next week, despite growing evidence that he may have lied to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The President appears willing to ignore growing outrage and make Bolton his Ambassador.
I’m grateful to Steve for inviting me to fill in at The Washington Note. I’ve been encouraging Steve for a few weeks to make the leap across the thin barrier that separates the Bolton nomination from the Rove-Plame scandal.
With the latest report that John Bolton may have lied to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, perhaps the time has come for him to look for a new job. I happen to know just the thing.
As my friend Steve Clemons has often pointed out, John Bolton’s allies have again and again snookered the press into reporting that their man’s ascension to the U.N. ambassador’s post is a done deal, just around the corner, etc., only to see that nomination fall flat. One thinks of Charlie Brown, Lucy, and the football….
Peter Scoblic from The New Republic here, guest blogging for the day. I’ll write more later, but, in case anyone missed it, CNN reported last night that two senior administration officials have said the president may give Bolton a recess appointment early next week.
The Point Will Be Tipping All Over Again Prediction: On August 14, just a few hours to go before Iraq’s permanent constitution is to be completed, as the international community holds its collective breath, the Iraqi negotiators would announce that after overcoming monumental obstacles, including the deep divisions between the country’s ethnic and religious communities,…
Hot off the wires; Biden gets results: John Bolton, the nominee for U.N. ambassador, inaccurately told Congress he had not been interviewed or testified in any investigation over the past five years, the State Department said Thursday, responding to a Democratic critic.
