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Biden asks whether Bolton lied
The Columbia Daily Tribune.
Biden asks whether Bolton testified
July 28, 2005

WASHINGTON (AP) - A Democratic opponent of John Bolton asked Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday whether the nominee for U.N. ambassador had testified to a grand jury about the leak of a CIA operative's identity.

Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee say they want to determine whether Bolton was truthful when he wrote on a questionnaire for his confirmation hearing that he has not been interviewed in any recent investigations.

In a letter to Rice, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., referenced an MSNBC report from last Thursday that said Bolton was among Department of State undersecretaries who "gave testimony" about a classified memo that has become an important piece of evidence in the leak investigation.

Biden asked Rice to tell the committee "whether Mr. Bolton did, in fact, appear before the grand jury or whether he has been interviewed or otherwise asked to provide information by the special prosecutor or his staff in connection with this matter."

Several Bush administration officials have been interviewed by Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald in his quest to determine who leaked the covert identity of Valerie Plame to reporters and whether any laws were broken.

Plame is the wife of former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson, a critic of President George W. Bush's Iraq policy.

A message left with the state department was not immediately returned yesterday.

Part of the questionnaire Bolton filled out in March asked whether he was "interviewed or asked to supply any information in connection with any administrative (including an inspector general), congressional or grand jury investigation within the past five years."

"He indicated in his form that he had not," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.

She said it is unclear whether Bolton lied on his questionnaire because senators do not know whether he testified before or after he signed the document - or at all.

The latest Democratic request to the administration for information about Bolton comes just two days before lawmakers are scheduled to leave Washington for a monthlong break.

With the Senate out of session, Bush could sidestep Congress and install Bolton in the U.N. post on a temporary basis.

Democrats have blocked Bolton's nomination for months. They have demanded that the administration turn over certain information about Bolton before they allow his nomination to proceed.

Republicans have twice attempted - and failed - to break the Democratic filibuster. There has been no sign of a breakthrough since the second attempt in June.

Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Copyright © 2005 The Columbia Daily Tribune. All Rights Reserved.

Commentary:
It doesn't matter that Bolton lied--it's what "good Christian men" like Bush do all the time. Lying to Congress is a felony. Getting away with it used to be called a coverup. We've gotten so used to it, nothing shocks us.

Note how the story says democrats want to know if Bolton lied. The media could care less.