Bolton Warnings From Both Parties

A former senior intelligence official came forward Friday to speak against President George W. Bush's U.N. ambassador nomination. So did Colin Powell's former right-hand man. And Democrats are holding onto their critique of John R. Bolton's leadership style.

As critique and rebuttal whiz through Senate chambers, the question remains: Will Bolton's Republican backers have the committee votes to send the nomination to the floor — and to win his confirmation?

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell's chief of staff, Larry Wilkerson, told Senate investigators Friday that it would be a mistake to confirm Bolton as U.N. ambassador, CBS News Correspondent Gloria Borger reports.

Likewise, the former intelligence official told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff that Bolton vastly overstated the military might of Syria and Cuba.

Wilkerson questioned Bolton's leadership abilities and disputed the Bush administration's often-stated view that the undersecretary of state is a brilliant diplomat, committee sources have said.

Also this week, the Senate panel's senior Democrat, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, warned he might try to delay a committee vote on Bolton, scheduled next Thursday, if the department did not provide the requested material.

Tom Casey, a State Department spokesman, said the department was cooperating fully with the committee but did not say whether the Democrats would get everything they wanted from the files.

Borger reports that an array of Democrats continue to question whether Bolton tried to retaliate against intelligence officials with whom he disagreed.

One example of such an official Democrats point to is State Department WMD analyst Christian Westermann. In private testimony, Westermann said he was summoned to Bolton's office, where Bolton was "yelling and screaming, and red in the face, and wagging his finger," Borger reports.

And others have testified that Bolton tried to have Westermann fired. Bolton denies that charge.

Powell's former chief of staff, Wilkerson, gave details that seem to confirm Westermann's story. He told committee aides that Powell, who has not endorsed Bolton for the U.N. job, would "go down to the bowels of the building" to try to boost the morale of analysts who had clashed with Bolton, aides said.

Bolton worked for Powell in charge of arms control and international security and has been accused of mistreating subordinates whose views differed from his own.

The interviews coincided with delivery by the State Department of what one official said was a voluminous batch of documents sought by Democrats on the committee, who hope to kill Bolton's nomination.

Robert L. Hutchings, who was responsible for coordinating American intelligence assessments in 2003, told the committee staff he tried to dissuade Bolton from overstating threats posed by Syria and Cuba.

Hutchings, now assistant dean of the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, was chairman of the National Intelligence Council.

Clashes with other analysts have surfaced as the committee considers whether to recommend Senate confirmation of Bolton.

In the disputes over Syria and Cuba, Bolton was persuaded to moderate his public statements somewhat, Hutchings told committee staffers, according to the sources who declined to be identified.

There was often tension between Bolton's office and other department offices, Wilkerson said, according to the sources, and a Bolton speech on Syria was delayed because of differences over analysis and timing.

The former Powell aide said Bolton was too aggressive in pushing sanctions against Chinese companies for spreading weapons technology and "overstepped the bounds" in the way he tried to block a third term for Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog organization, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Wilkerson stressed he was not speaking for Powell and had not discussed Bolton with the former secretary of state. Powell has talked to the committee as well but has not disclosed what he said about Bolton.

Despite the Senate panel testimony, Borger reports that many Republicans say they're sick of the stalling. They intend to vote on Bolton in committee next week and believe they have enough votes to send his nomination to the full Senate.