Is Bolton somehow hooked into Plame affair?

[burythehatchet]

I don't know if the convergence of these two people has been discussed, but I got a little shudder when it occurred to me that Bolton may have been the guy who got the undercover info from the NSA intercepts, and tried to peddle the info to the reporters.

There's plenty of theories floating around and I don't mean to resurrect one if it has already been discussed. Just curious.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. I have long felt that he may be.

The whole sordid affair reeks of his MO.

[burythehatchet]

2. the hair on the

back of my neck never seems to lie.

[Goldeneye]

3. Here's a dkos thread that kind of ties things together.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/6/19/204617/845

[burythehatchet]

4. perfect...thanks

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

5. This part is naive to the realities.

Part of the problem with the NSA intercepts is that the NSA is NOT SUPPOSED to eavesdrop on domestic calls and electronic transmissions. If Bill Richardson was in fact eavesdropped on by the NSA, then this provides some concern that the NSA was monitoring Richardson's conversations with Colin Powell about the North Korea diplomatic effort. Everyone I know who has connections to the NSA world tells me that this would be extraordinary and would shatter trust in the NSA's methods and objectives.

The NSA gets around this sort of thing by having Britain(Portam Down), Canada and Australia(Alice Springs) monitor our communications. In that manner, they can get fed the content of the intercepts and honestly say to congress that they do not monitor domestic communications. This is well-documented and has been going on since Christ was a mess cook. All they have to do is call up someone at one of these ELINT agencies, in cooperating countries and get the full transcripts and raw captures.

On edit: Plausible Deniability 101.

[Oversea Visitor]

6. He is party to DSM

He engineer the sacking of the brazilian dipolmat in charge of chemical weapon inspection in Iraq. That dipolmat was going to send in inspector into Iraq to counter US claim and hence was remove.

[cynatnite]

7. Who faked the Niger document?

That drives me crazy when I think about it too much :banghead:

[seemslikeadream]

8. JOHN BOLTON PUSHED NIGER-URANIUM FIASCO AT STATE

March 14, 2005
JOHN BOLTON PUSHED NIGER-URANIUM FIASCO AT STATE -- Then Tried to Hide his Tracks and Staff Lied to Congress

I just received this March 1, 2005 letter written by House Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Henry Waxman to Representative Christopher Shays who chairs the Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Security.

Waxman is basically blowing the whistle on the administration's extravagant use of "sensitive but unclassified" designations on official acts to block public access to and transparency of government policymaking.

On pages 5-7, Waxman reveals that John Bolton promulgated the Niger-Uranium fiction at the State Department despite rejection of this claim by State Department and CIA intelligence analysts.

Waxman then argues that not only did Bolton and his people then try and conceal Bolton's role in pushing the Niger-Uranium agenda by marking the material "sensitive but unclassified" and blocking it in case of a Freedom of Information Act request, the State Department actually LIED TO CONGRESS about John Bolton's role.

I think Senator Hagel might want to reconsider his support for the Bolton nomination now. . .

http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/000370.html

Waxman letter

Concealment of a State Department Official's Role in the Niger Uranium Claim

In April 2004, the State Department used the designation "sensitive but unclassified" to conceal unclassified information about the role of John Bolton, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control, in the creation of a fact sheet distributed to the United Nations that falsely claimed Iraq had sought uranium from Niger.

On December 19, 2002, the State Department issued a fact sheet entitled "Illustrative Examples of Omissions from the Iraqi Declaration to the United Nations Security Council." (9) The fact sheet listed eight key areas in which the Bush Administration found fault with Iraq's weapons declaration to the United Nations on December 7, 2002. Under the heading "Nuclear Weapons," the fact sheet stated:

The Declaration ignores efforts to procure uranium from Niger.
Why is the Iraqi regime hiding their uranium procurement?

It was later discovered that this claim was based on fabricated documents. (10) In addition, both State Department intelligence officials and CIA officials reported that they had rejected the claim as unreliable. (11) As a result, it was unclear who within the State Department was involved in preparing the fact sheet.

On July 21, 2003, I wrote to Secretary of State Colin Powell, asking for an explanation of the role of John Bolton, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs, in creating the document. (12) On September 25, 2003, the State Department responded with a definitive denial: "Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs, John R. Bolton, did not play a role in the creation of this document." (13)

Subsequently, however, I joined six other members of the Government Reform Committee in requesting from the State Department Inspector General a copy of an unclassified "chronology" on how the fact sheet was developed. (14) This chronology described a meeting on December 18, 2002, between Secretary Powell, Mr. Bolton, and Richard Boucher, the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Public Affairs. According to this chronology, Mr. Boucher specifically asked Mr. Bolton "for help developing a response to Iraq's Dec 7 Declaration to the United Nations Security Council that could be used with the press. According to the chronology, which is phrased in the present tense, Mr. Bolton "agrees and tasks the Bureau of Nonproliferation," a subordinate office that reports directly to Mr. Bolton, to conduct the work.

This unclassified chronology also stated that on the next day, December 19, 2003, the Bureau of Nonproliferation "sends email with the fact sheet, 'Fact Sheet Iraq Declaration.doc.'" to Mr. Bolton's office (emphasis in original). A second e-mail was sent a few minutes later, and a third e-mail was sent about an hour after that. According to the chronology, each version "still includes Niger reference." Although Mr. Bolton may not have personally drafted the document, the chronology appears to indicate that

he ordered its creation and received updates on its development.

The Inspector General's chronology was marked "sensitive but unclassified." In addition, the letter transmitting the chronology stated that it "contains sensitive information, which may be protected from public release under the Freedom of Information Act" and requested that no "public release of this information" be made. (15) In fact, however, the chronology consisted of nothing more than a factual recitation of information on meetings, e-mails, and documents.

This is not a constructive reformer out to promote American interests in a dignified manner in the world's most significant multilateral institution.

There are many administration jobs that John Bolton may be completely appropriate for -- but the one that he has been nominated for is not on that list



Also - State's Bolton Says Iran "Dead Set" on Building Nuclear Weapons


State's Bolton Says Iran "Dead Set" on Building Nuclear Weapons

Iran is continuing to pursue the production and possession of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, despite being a signatory to international treaties banning them, said Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton.

In his prepared testimony before the House International Relations Committee June 24, Bolton said, "We cannot let Iran, a leading sponsor of international terrorism, acquire the most destructive weapons and the means to deliver them to Europe, most of central Asia and the Middle East, or beyond."

The under secretary presented evidence such as U.S. intelligence findings in the biannual "721 Report to Congress on the Acquisition of Technologies Relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction and Advance Chemical Munitions," reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and statements by Iranian officials in order to back up his statements to the committee.

The under secretary described in detail the basis for the Bush administration's strong belief that Iran has a clandestine program to produce nuclear weapons, despite being a signatory to the Nonproliferation Treaty.
http://tokyo.usembassy.gov/e/p/tp-20040630-04.html


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3898738#3898972

[Bravo411]

9. It could be why

the Bush admin refuses to release the documents that the Democrats have asked to see regarding his nomination to the U.N.

The investigators already know who the leak is, you don't see Novak in jail for refusing to name a source. and he's the one who outed her.

But instead of focusing on the actual investigation, they're using it to intimidate reporters and put them in jail. Sadly the ones they're going after never even wrote stories regarding the info they got from the informant, yet they still cannot violate journalistic integrity and give up a name. If they do, then journalism and what's left of a free press suffers at the hands of the government.

[mediaman007]

10. B-I-N-G-O! You win!

My money says that when the names of Americans, whom Bolton grabbed information on, is released the names of Plame and Wilson will appear.

[burythehatchet]

11. see this KOS thread

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/6/19/204617/845

lays it out with great precision.