John Bolton was the most important advocate of the Niger-Uranium fiction inside the State Department, despite this intelligence being soundly and vigorously rejected by BOTH State Department intelligence analysts AND Central Intelligence Agency analysts.
Henry Waxman makes clear in a key letter to Christopher Shays that John Bolton promulgated this story inside the State Department and then used secrecy rules to cover his tracks. In addition, State Department personnel lied to Congress by saying that John Bolton had no role in the Niger-Uranium story and the promulgation of that material in various interactions with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Please pursue this. Bolton was the Doug Feith of the State Department. Get him on record. What was his role — and why did the Inspector General find that he was deeply involved in this story but staff had lied to Congress?
What does this particular deception say about John Bolton’s general modus operandi?
— Steve Clemons
