The ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Joe Biden (D-DE), accused Bush's UN nominee on deceiving Congress in a letter issued today to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, RAW STORY has learned.
Biden asserts he has discovered that Bush UN nominee John R. Bolton was interviewed by the State Department's Inspector General in relation to alleged Iraqi attempts to procure uranium from Niger.
Bolton did not tell this to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during his confirmation hearings. The Delaware Democrat asks that Rice tell the Senate whether information provided on the White House's nominee was inaccurate.
The Honorable Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of State
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Madam Secretary:
It has just come to my attention that then-Undersecretary of State John
Bolton was interviewed on July 18, 2003 by the State Department Office
of the Inspector General in connection with a joint State Department/CIA
IG investigation related to the alleged Iraqi attempts to procure
uranium from Niger. This information would appear to be inconsistent
with information that Mr. Bolton provided to the Committee on Foreign
Relations during the Committee's consideration ofms pending nomination
to be Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
The Committee on Foreign Relations expects all nominees to provide to it
accurate and timely information. Indeed, in submitting the Committee's
questionnaire, all nominees are required to swear out an affidavit
stating that the information provided is "true and accurate." It now
appears that Mr. Bolton's answers may not meet that standard. I write,
therefore, to request that you review this matter to determine whether
incomplete or inaccurate information was provided by Mr. Bolton.
