Most people consider John Negroponte to be an astute inside the beltway player, but he may be harming his record by holding up NSA intercepts and other information from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as “payback” for the tough time some of the senators gave his nomination.
One observer reports to TWN that it is:
“important to recall that John Negroponte is not exactly a disinterested observer when it comes to the proceedings of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. When his own nomination for UN Ambassador was before the Committee in 2001, the Democratic Members, led by Senators Dodd and Biden, turned it into a very long and grueling process by demanding voluminous records on Negroponte’s service as U.S. Ambassador to Honduras in the mid-80’s to determine his role in and awareness of El Salvador death squads operating out of Honduran territory.”
Negroponte was eventually confirmed 92-0, but it was not a pain-free process.
Accordingly, as Negroponte stiffs Biden, Dodd, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on these NSA intercepts, one must wonder if personal motives are coming into play here.
It would be a big misstep by Negroponte because he did, in fact, get confirmed — overwhelmingly. If he is using Bolton to fight old wars, then Democrats will be out to return the favor in the future.
— Steve Clemons
