John Bolton was actually voted down by senior partners of Bolton’s law firm, Covington and Burling, where he worked before serving in the Department of Justice, because of concerns over his abusive behavior. An individual who would only speak anonymously shared the content of the super-secret partner’s meeting with me yesterday.
In addition, after Bolton left the first Bush administration in 1993, he served on the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom and engaged in not only abusive behavior inside that government agency but also worked hard to have two people with whom he disagreed fired. The victims — who now work at other institutions in Washington — are reticent about making public claims because of Bolton’s continued ability to cause negative consequences for them and their fear that he will seek retribution.
Ok Senators — you really should check out these earlier patterns of abuse.
But any “yes” vote to confirm will have to be made acknowledging the long list of recklessness and abuse on the public record regarding John Bolton.
— Steve Clemons
