Senate Dems report claims Bolton sought to punish dissenter, contrary to testimony News
Senate Dems report claims Bolton sought to punish dissenter, contrary to testimony

[JURIST] A Senate Foreign Relations Committee [official website] minority report released Wednesday says that Bush administration UN ambassador nominee John Bolton planned to ask CIA Director George Tenet to help punish a government intelligence analyst who disagreed with him. The report by Democratic members of the committee claims that Bolton pushed for months to have the analyst reprimanded, but Bolton testified under oath at his confirmation hearing last month that he had made no effort to have the man disciplined. Bolton has been criticized for his harsh views of the UN as an institution; allegations [JURIST report] were also made at the April hearings that Bolton was a "serial abuser" of lower-level officials who challenged his views. GOP Foreign Relations Committee chair Senator Richard Lugar [official website] says that that new report reveals there was no evidence to support the most serious charge, that Bolton sought to manipulate intelligence. Bolton’s nomination passed [JURIST report] committee last week without the customary endorsement, making him the third ambassador nominee in history with the dubious distinction. California Democrat Barbara Boxer [official website] sent a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Tuesday repeating a request for financial disclosure reports for a paid Bolton adviser, Matthew Freedman, who also maintains a roster of private consulting clients. Freedman, refused to answer questions about his clients during an interview with the committee. The State Department said internal ethics officials had concluded Freedman's outside work violated no laws or regulations and there was no need to turn over the documents. AP has more.