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.
Bolton was interviewed by the State Department inspector general as part of a joint investigation with the Central Intelligence Agency related to Iraqi attempts to buy nuclear materials from Niger, State Department spokesman Noel Clay said.
When Bolton filled out a Senate questionnaire in connection with his nomination, “he didn’t recall being interviewed by the State Department’s inspector general. Therefore, his form, as submitted, was inaccurate,” Clay said. “He will correct it.”
The response came after Sen. Joseph Biden (news, bio, voting record), D-Del., wrote to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asserting Bolton had been interviewed and suggesting he had not been truthful in his questionnaire.
“He didn’t recall.” Five months of scrutiny — including loud public questions about his involvement in the Niger-uranium case — maybe it’s just me, but that would have jogged my memory. Perhaps Bolton blacked out in an angry tirade and bumped his head?
— Dave Meyer
Update, 9:41 pm EST: The AP story linked above has been updated. It now includes an anonymous State Department official stating that the administration doesn’t care about Bolton’s selective memory:
The new information does not change the Bush administration’s commitment to Bolton’s nomination, said a senior State Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the political sensitivity of the subject.
Also, be sure to check out Jeremy Dibbell over at Charging Rino, Stygius, and Josh Marshall.
