Ex-intelligence official: Bolton bullied analyst
U.N. nominee blasted at Senate committee hearing
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 Democrats grill nominee John Bolton on the United Nations.
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| JOHN R. BOLTON | AGE: 56; born November 20, 1948, in Baltimore, Maryland
EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree from Yale University, summa cum laude, 1970; law degree from Yale Law School, 1974
EXPERIENCE: Undersecretary of state for arms control and international security since May 11, 2001; assistant U.S. attorney general, 1985-1989; assistant administrator for program and policy coordination, U.S. Agency for International Development, 1982-1983; general counsel, U.S. Agency for International Development, 1981-1982; associate at the Washington office of Covington & Burling, 1974-81; partner in the law firm of Lerner, Reed, Bolton & McManus, 1993-99
FAMILY: Married to the former Gretchen Brainerd; one daughter.
Source: AP
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In testimony before a Senate panel Tuesday, a former State Department official described President Bush's choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations as an "800-pound gorilla" who bullied underlings and tried to get an analyst fired in a dispute over intelligence.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a second day of hearings on the nomination of John Bolton, now undersecretary of state for arms control and international security.
Senators questioned Carl W. Ford Jr., former chief of the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research, about allegations that Bolton tried to have analyst Christian Westermann reassigned because the analyst did not agree with the undersecretary's views on Cuba.
Bolton had planned to say in a May 2002 speech to the Heritage Foundation that Cuba had a secret bioweapons program, but Westermann would not approve the language used until it reflected more ambiguous intelligence assessments.
Ford said Bolton was furious. "I've never seen anybody quite like Secretary Bolton," Ford told the Senate committee. "I don't have a second, third or fourth in terms of the way that he abuses his power and authority with little people."
"He's a quintessential kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy," Ford said, calling him a "serial abuser."
In grilling about the incident before the panel Monday, Bolton testified he never asked for anyone to be punished for the incident and said he was upset because Westermann went behind his back -- not that he disagreed with him.
Ford said Bolton should have come to him instead of the analyst.
"There are a lot of screamers that work in the government, but you don't pull someone so low down in the bureaucracy that they are completely defenseless," he said.
"It's an 800-pound gorilla devouring a banana. The analyst was required simply to stand there and to take it," Ford said, describing what he heard about Bolton's alleged shouting at Westermann.
Ford told the panel he later had a heated discussion with Bolton about the matter.
"I left that meeting with the perception that I had been asked for the first time to fire an intelligence analyst for what he had said and done," Ford recalled.
He said he was sufficiently concerned that he talked to then-Secretary of State Colin Powell and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.
Ford described his testimony as an "awkward situation."
"I consider myself to be a loyal Republican and conservative to the core," he said. "I'm a firm and enthusiastic supporter of President Bush and his policies."
Sen. Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat, called Bolton a "bully" and said the Westermann incident and others she had heard about constitute harassment in the workplace.
"I think Mr. Bolton needs anger management at a minimum, and he does not deserve to be promoted," Boxer told her colleagues.
Sen. Lincoln Chafee, a moderate Republican from Rhode Island whose vote is expected to be crucial, noted everyone involved "kept their jobs."
Also rising to Bolton's defense, Republican Sens. Norm Coleman of Minnesota and George Allen of Virginia pointed out that Ford wasn't present during the exchange between the analyst and undersecretary.
"You used the word 'serial,' but you've talked about one incident, and ... you've talked about 'we've heard rumors about,' but then again, this is Washington," Coleman told Ford. "It's pretty tough to sit up here without more [concrete evidence]."
Democrats wanted to call seven witnesses to testify on Bolton's record, but Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, the committee chairman, approved only Ford's appearance.
In his concluding remarks, Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware said, "This may be the most significant vote any of us cast this year, in terms of America's security interests."
"You better examine your conscience and figure out whether or not this is just a little slip, or that we're about to send a man who lacks credibility, I would argue, with half of us on the Hill," said Biden, the ranking Democrat on the committee.
"The idea that he doesn't know the process of how to clear intelligence, I find mind-boggling."
Biden continued: "This is the very man who may have to take the case to the world on Korea and on Iran based upon intelligence. ... I believe this appointment is damaging to our national interests."
Democrats grill nominee
Democrats also have questioned Bolton's suitability for the post because of his often blunt criticism of the United Nations. (Full story)
During Monday's hearing, Boxer confronted Bolton with a videotape of a 1994 speech in which he said that "there is no such thing as the United Nations."
Boxer said, "My overall assessment, Mr. Bolton, is that you have nothing but disdain for the United Nations."
Bolton defended his comments. "My criticisms during the 1990s were in large measure because of what I thought was the lack of effective American leadership," he told the committee.
In his opening statement, Bolton stressed the world body requires reform so that scandal doesn't undermine its authority.
If confirmed, Bolton said he would pursue four priorities: strengthening institutions that bolster democracy, stemming the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, supporting the war against terrorism and fighting humanitarian crises such as the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Allen called Bolton "the absolute perfect person" for the job.
A vote by the committee could come Thursday, and Republicans hold a 10-8 majority on the panel. The full Senate -- where the GOP holds a 55-45 advantage -- then would consider the nomination.
If confirmed, Bolton will replace John Danforth, who left in January after less than seven months on the job.
Anne Patterson, a career foreign service officer, has been the acting U.S. ambassador since Danforth's departure.
CNN's Jonathan Wald and Andrea Koppel contributed to this report.
