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June 25, 2005
Senate Committee Head Wants Bush to Stand by Bolton
By DOUGLAS JEHL
WASHINGTON, June 24 - The Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Friday that it would be a mistake for the White House to bend further to Democratic demands related to John R. Bolton's handling of intelligence material.
In an interview, the chairman, Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas, said he now expected that President Bush would grant a recess appointment to Mr. Bolton, whose nomination as ambassador to the United Nations has been blocked by Senate Democrats for more than a month.
Some other Republican senators, including Trent Lott of Mississippi, have said in recent days that Mr. Bush should provide the Democrats with information they have requested related to Mr. Bolton's access to the names of American individuals and companies mentioned in highly classified intelligence reports based on communications intercepted by the National Security Agency.
Mr. Roberts had sought until now to serve as an intermediary between the White House and Senate Democrats in the matter. But he said he believed that the administration had gone far enough, and that a recess appointment expiring in January 2007 and perhaps renominated after that, would be preferable to the potential security risks of providing Congress with wider access to names in the N.S.A. reports.
In those reports, Mr. Roberts said, "it is very easy to determine specific time, place and action, so you can get yourself in a lot of trouble real fast by talking about specific intercepts."
Senate Democrats have vowed to continue to block any vote on Mr. Bolton, under secretary of state for arms control, unless the White House meets its request for the documents....
