Posted on 05/28/2005 12:01:20 PM PDT by concentric circles
The Bush administration said yesterday that Democratic senators should not expect to get the documents they are seeking before they will allow an up-or-down vote on John R. Bolton...
"They have what they need," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. "The Democratic and Republican leaders of the Intelligence Committee have had access to this sensitive, highly classified information. The Democrats clamoring for it have already voted against the nomination. This is about partisan politics."
...The documents sought by Democratic Sens. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware and Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut are e-mail messages and other background material for congressional testimony Mr. Bolton was to give in 2003 about Syria's weapons programs and 10 foreign communications intercepts the nominee requested in his current role as undersecretary of state for arms control and international security...
... Republicans said the requests for information are just a delay tactic.
The top Democrat and Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee have seen redacted versions of the intercepts, and concluded nothing could be learned from allowing Mr. Biden to see censored versions.
Sen. Pat Roberts, Kansas Republican and the committee chairman, went further, saying that releasing the intercepts to anyone else would set a bad precedent for compromising some of the most sensitive intelligence...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
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I would agree. Particularly since Biden is involved.
They are top secret documents, and why these freakin senators want to muck about is beyond me.
I wouldn't hand over classified material to Harry "Guess what's in his FBI file?" Reid either.
"The Democrats clamoring for it have already voted against the nomination. This is about partisan politics."
That must be a a misquote from Scott. The Democrats have never and will never do anyting strictly for partisan purposes! Who does he think he's kidding? /SARCASM ;)
A Bolton recess appt. this weekend would be nice. Let the dems chew on that for a while.
Because they're demonrats!
I was hoping for a recess appointment. Darn.
A recess appt. this weekend would be nice. Let the dems chew on that for a while.
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We don't need no stinkin' files.
;-)
I pray that I am never in a position to choose between McCain and the likes of Hilary or some other socialist. I just may have to miss the 1st Election since I turned 21.
Yeah....I was around when you could serve your country, die in Vietnam and not vote until you were 21.
NO!!! Say it isn't so!
Party before country?
This can't be true.
The party of the people will ALWAYS put the people first!
Giving Senator (leaky) Leahy these top secret documents is the same as giving them to Al-Queda.
IMHO, President Bush won't make a recess appointment. He won't "spend his political capital".
Does anybody know if Frist has the votes to confirm Bolton if cloture is reached? Apparently, he miscounted the votes on the cloture vote (or was duped by Harry Reid), and already Thune and Voinovich are voting against Bolton on the final confirmation vote.
If Reid holds his caucus against Bolton (and I wouldn't doubt it), that's already 47 votes against Bolton, before even considering the usual RINO suspects (Snowe, Chafee, etc.)
"I pray that I am never in a position to choose between McCain and the likes of Hilary or some other socialist."
I am very confident that there will be a true conservative on the ballot in 2008. He/she may just not be on the Repubican ballot line. So no need to stay home.
"A Bolton recess appt. this weekend would be nice. Let the dems chew on that for a while."
I don't think the Pres will make a recess appt this weekend (though, I agree, it would be nice). I think he'll let Bolton come up again in June and if it drags on until Aug, he'll do the recess appt of Bolton then (I think he ought to also appt a few judges at that time, too, if they're still being denied an up or down vote).
I'd like to see a reporter ask McCain and Biden if they have spoken to Jay Rockefeller, who would be the Democrat who has seen the documents. We're not hearing much from Rockefeller, I guess he's headed back to the hills.
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