Bolton's Fate in the
Hands of 4 Senators With Doubts
By SHERYL GAY
STOLBERG, NYTimes on the Web, May 11, 2005
WASHINGTON, May 10 - The
future of John R. Bolton, whose nomination to be ambassador to the United
Nations has been caught up in controversy, hinges on four wavering Republicans,
all of whom say they will not make up their minds until Thursday, when the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee is to vote.
The four -- Senators Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska,
Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and George V. Voinovich of Ohio -- are among 10
Republicans on the foreign relations panel, and a "no" vote by any one of them
would doom Mr. Bolton's nomination.
But Mr. Voinovich -- who insisted last month that lawmakers dig deeper into the
accusations against Mr. Bolton, a stunning defection -- is the one who makes Mr.
Bolton's backers the most nervous.
Mr. Voinovich said Tuesday that he was still reviewing documents related to the
nomination. Asked if he was feeling pressure not to buck the party, he
said: "My people sent me down here to do what's in the best interests of
our nation, and that's what the president wants to do. The issue is, he's
recommended someone, and I'm giving that recommendation serious consideration.
But if I should decide that I'm not going forward and support him, I don't think
that's bucking the party."
At issue is the way Mr. Bolton, an under secretary of state, has treated
colleagues, particularly those with whom he disagreed on intelligence matters.
Senate Democrats, who have been pressing the State Department for documents
relating to clashes between Mr. Bolton and intelligence officials over Syria,
convened privately for a strategy session on Tuesday.
One question is whether the Democrats will try to further delay the vote on Mr.
Bolton if the documents are not forthcoming by Thursday.
"We're going to have to cross that bridge then," said Norm Kurz, a spokesman for
Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, the senior Democrat on the panel.
Also on Tuesday, Gen. Michael V. Hayden of the Air Force, the principal deputy
national intelligence director, met with the top Republican and Democrat on the
Senate Intelligence Committee. The meeting was to brief the senators, Pat
Roberts of Kansas and John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia, about requests
made by Mr. Bolton over the last four years for the names of American officials
mentioned in communications intercepted by the National Security Agency.
Mr. Bolton has said his purpose was to better understand intelligence reports,
but senators have been trying to determine if the requests were in any way
unusual. It is unclear how or whether the information provided by General
Hayden, which is highly classified, will be shared with the foreign relations
panel.
Mr. Bolton's backers on the Foreign Relations Committee, including the chairman,
Senator Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, have said they believe that his nomination
will be approved on a party-line vote of 10 to 8.
"The team will be together," Senator George Allen, Republican of Virginia,
declared Tuesday. Yet in the next breath, as if to signal his concern
about Mr. Voinovich, Mr. Allen singled out the Ohio senator, saying:
"Senator Voinovich is, I think, a fair-minded individual. He'll look at
the charges and see they're not based on facts."
Each of the four wavering Republicans brings his or her own political
calculations to the table. Mr. Chafee, who reiterated Tuesday that he was
inclined to support Mr. Bolton, could face a difficult re-election in mostly
Democratic Rhode Island, where his constituents have been urging him to oppose
the nomination. He said Tuesday that his standard for voting no "would be
legal and ethical improprieties," and that so far he had seen no evidence of
that.
Mr. Hagel is contemplating a run for president in 2008; a vote against Mr.
Bolton could hurt him with the conservative base of the Republican Party.
In a television interview on Sunday, the Nebraska senator said, "I have not seen
anything that would keep me from voting for him, but I have said I will reserve
that vote until I hear all the facts."
Ms. Murkowski is a freshman, appointed in 2002 to fill the seat left vacant by
her father but elected in her own right last November. Though it would be
unusual for such a newcomer to defy her party's leadership, Senator Murkowski
has demonstrated an independent streak. On Tuesday she said she was hoping
to interview Mr. Bolton, to assure herself that he is "the right person for the
task at hand."
Mr. Voinovich, a former mayor of Cleveland and governor of Ohio, may have a bit
more political wiggle room. He was elected to a second term in November,
winning in each of Ohio's 88 counties. When he refused to support Mr.
Bolton last month, his explanation -- "My conscience got me" -- left Washington
abuzz. He talked at the time about his "kitchen table test": would
he want that person to join him for dinner at his kitchen table?
On Tuesday, surrounded by a crush of reporters, Mr. Voinovich brushed aside
questions about whether he thought Mr. Bolton could pass the test. Nor
would he say whether he was under any pressure from the White House or fellow
Republicans.
"The important thing," he said, "is to do what your heart tells you to do and
your brain tells you to do."
Douglas Jehl contributed reporting for this article.
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