Top Dem May Hold Up Bolton Vote

The senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee indicated Thursday that he might try delaying a vote on John R. Bolton's nomination as ambassador to the United Nations if the State Department does not provide additional documents about the embattled nominee.

The committee chairman, in a letter last week to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, did not endorse the request by Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del. Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., said parts of Biden's request were "extremely broad" or of "marginal relevance."

Biden told Rice he wants the documents and hinted he might try to delay the committee's scheduled confirmation vote on May 12 if he does not get them.

"My Democratic colleagues and I would consider the failure to produce the requested documents in a timely manner a lack of cooperation," according to the letter, which was made available to The Associated Press.

Among the documents requested are an accounting of instances in which Bolton sought names and details of U.S. officials whose communications were intercepted by the National Security Agency.

Also, Biden asked for records dealing with Bolton's assertions that Cuba and Sudan were bent on developing weapons of mass destruction and on China's proliferation of weapons technology. Bolton has been the State Department's arms control chief.

Biden sent an initial request to Rice for the documents last Friday.

"I hope and expect that the department will respond in full by the end of this week and in any event reasonably in advance of the committee's meeting to consider the nomination scheduled for May 12," Biden wrote in his second letter Thursday.

The committee planned to vote on Bolton on April 19, but unexpectedly postponed it after Democrats — joined by several Republicans — said they wanted more time to study allegations against him.

At the White House, spokesman Scott McClellan said the State Department "has been working to make sure that the questions are responded to, and they've been very responsive to the committee."

"There's a difference between responding to legitimate concerns and just people trying to go down the road of a fishing expedition," McClellan said.Bolton has been accused of trying to remove subordinates whose intelligence information he opposed and of having a fiery temper inappropriate for a U.N. ambassador.

Biden reminded Rice that he agreed with Lugar that the committee would vote on May 12, "predicated on my expectation ... that the executive branch will cooperate in providing access to witnesses and documents."

A close vote is expected. While Republicans hold a 10-8 advantage, a handful of Republican senators have indicated they were still weighing Bolton's credentials.

In his letter to Rice last week, Lugar partly backed Biden's request. But he said obtaining all the documents the Democrats wanted may not be possible before the scheduled vote.

"The committee looks forward to reviewing additional documents in advance of its May 12 vote on the nomination of John Bolton, and we appreciate your efforts to make that possible," Lugar wrote.

Meanwhile, Margaret Thatcher, who gained a reputation for outspokenness as Britain's prime minister, endorsed Bolton's nomination, largely for his "capacity for straight-talking rather than peddling half-truths."

In a letter made available Thursday by Bolton's office, Thatcher said she wrote to tell her longtime friend "how strongly I support your nomination."

Bolton also was endorsed by former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who told a reporter, "John Bolton is eminently qualified. He's one of the smartest guys in Washington."

Armitage is close to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who did not sign a letter sent last month to Lugar by all other former living Republican secretaries of state backing Bolton.