The senator says he is troubled by testimony questioning John Bolton's truthfulness and alleging that he retaliated against those who disagreed with him.

01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, April 21, 2005

BY SCOTT MacKAY
Journal Staff Writer

U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee said yesterday that he is backing away from his support for John Bolton, President Bush's choice to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, because of allegations that have surfaced about Bolton in hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"I take these allegations seriously," Chafee said. "I think it would be accurate to say I'm on the fence" on voting to confirm Bolton, a darling of neoconservative Republicans and a vigorous critic of the U.N. and international agreements that preclude the United States from acting unilaterally in foreign affairs.

Chafee's comments, in a telephone interview, came even as the Bush administration yesterday renewed its support for Bolton.

"We need to get John Bolton to the United Nations because it is an important position," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. "We need to get him there sooner rather than later."

And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday that she understands the Senate needs time to weigh the issue of his nomination, but reaffirmed her strong endorsement of Bolton.

"I continue to believe that John Bolton would be a really great U.N. permanent representative," Rice told reporters as she flew from Russia to Lithuania yesterday.

Bolton's nomination hit a roadblock on Tuesday when several Republicans on the Foreign Relations panel joined Democrats in asking to put off a vote on Bolton in favor of a fresh look at allegations of undiplomatic conduct. The postponement was a political setback for Mr. Bush -- at least in the short term -- and opened the possibility that the nomination could fail.

McClellan said Bolton faces "trumped-up" allegations, and said the Bush administration is confident he will be confirmed.

"I think what you have are some Democratic members of the committee who continue to bring up unsubstantiated accusations," he said. "They are unfounded."

But it was Republican Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio who asserted Tuesday that Democrats had raised "legitimate issues" that need to be explored.

Chafee said that Voinovich's eleventh-hour defection came as a "complete surprise" to him and other senators on the committee. Neither Voinovich nor his staff hinted that he had qualms about Bolton's track record as a diplomat.

Chafee said he was concerned about testimony in which Bolton asserted that a former U.S. ambassador to South Korea, Thomas Hubbard, had approved comments Bolton made about North Korea in a 2003 speech. After the hearing, Hubbard telephoned Chafee to say that Bolton had "greatly, greatly exaggerated" Hubbard's support for the North Korea speech.

Hubbard made similar comments to The New York Times.

Chafee said in an April 7 interview with the Journal that he was "inclined" to support Bolton, saying Mr. Bush deserved to have his choice at the U.N. But he also said he would wait for the confirmation hearings to make a final decision.

Yesterday, Chafee said that ideally he would still like to support Mr. Bush. "We [Republicans] are trying to support the president on this," Chafee said.

The committee comprises 10 Republicans and 8 Democrats. Democrats have announced they will oppose Bolton, so one GOP defection would create a tie vote, blocking the nomination from being considered by the full Senate.

The committee set no new date for a vote, but a delay of at least two weeks seems likely. Democrats planned to use the time to investigate new allegations that Bolton abused his authority and mistreated subordinates, and to look into Bolton's unusual request for the names of U.S. officials whose communications were secretly picked up by a U.S. spy agency.

Chafee and Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska have expressed doubts about Bolton, and Hagel warned that he may not support Bolton's nomination if it moves to the full Senate for a confirmation vote.

Bolton, 56, is the State Department's arms-control chief.

Much of his two-day confirmation hearing last week focused on claims that he retaliated against lower-level State Department employees who disagreed with him and tried to influence CIA analysis of Cuba.

Chafee said he is troubled by the CIA allegations and concerned about Bolton's truthfulness.

"The dynamic has changed," Chafee said. "A lot of reservations have surfaced. It's a new day."

With reports from the Associated Press