Here is the latest:
~ Senator Chris Dodd has not received from the administration the 10 NSA intercepts John Bolton requested;
~ New information on new abuse cases, both regarding intelligence analysts and people close to Bolton in previous jobs, are coming forward and need to be investigated;
~ More is still pending about Bolton’s efforts to sabotage diplomatic efforts directed by Secretary of State Colin Powell, particularly relating to North Korea.
This is not normal. What is the administration hiding on Bolton. Word is that John Bolton may have been snooping into the NSA intercepts that recorded conversations and interactions of other U.S. officials so as to spy on them, to disrupt their diplomatic efforts, and to learn what was being said, specifically, about him by his perceived enemies and rival in the State Department.
This is an outrageous, unacceptable abuse of power and privileged access to classified information.
One Senator — any U.S. Senator — can go down to the floor of the U.S. Senate today at 2 p.m. and say the following:
Mr./Madame Chairman:
As the U.S. Senate has been in session for more than two hours, I hereby object to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting. . .until adequate and complete answers posed by esteemed Members of this Senate to the administration are responded to, in full, by the administration.
Until that occurs, I object to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee holding further meetings.
That would shut the committee down. It would create another delay, and every single day that there has been more time, another major story has emerged on John Bolton.
Call your Senators. This is important. There is no way that the Bush administration should be able to get away with such arrogance of power in the face of the possibility of a more enlightened approach.
I will be on Al Franken’s show today at 1 p.m. making this case. I hope those of you who are connected to decisionmakers, to media, or to people in the Republican or Democratic leadership, will make the same case.
— Steve Clemons
