Biden warns delay possible on Bolton
Top Democrat wants documents from State Department
From Andrea Koppel
CNN Washington Bureau
 |  John Bolton appeared before a Senate panel April 11 to defend his nomination. |
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 Bolton faces criticism over his treatment of subordinates.
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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) -- Senate Democrats warned Thursday they might delay a vote on President Bush's pick for U.N. ambassador a second time unless the State Department turns over documents requested by the Foreign Relations Committee.
With a vote scheduled on John Bolton's nomination in a week, the committee's ranking Democrat urged Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to make sure the department produced records senators want to review.
Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware suggested he might try to delay a vote on Bolton's nomination if the administration does not turn over the requested documents.
"My Democratic colleagues and I would consider the failure to produce the requested documents in a timely manner a lack of cooperation," Biden wrote to Rice.
A vote on the Bolton nomination was supposed to happen last month, but was delayed after Democrats and several Republican senators expressed concern about Bolton. (Full story)
Their concerns included allegations that Bolton bullied subordinates during his tenure at the State Department and elsewhere -- and sought to punish intelligence analysts who disagreed with his assessments of alleged weapons programs in Syria, Cuba and Iraq.
The committee agreed to review the allegations and interview additional witnesses and documents. The White House called the allegations unsubstantiated.
Biden said he and the other seven Democrats on the committee committed to a May 12 date for a vote on Bolton's nomination with the understanding that "the executive branch will cooperate in providing access to witnesses and documents."
In a separate letter to Rice, the committee's Republican chairman, Richard Lugar of Indiana, said some document requests "may not be able to be accommodated in the time allowed."
Lugar said some of the requests were "extremely broad" and "may have marginal relevance to specific allegations" -- assessments Biden disputed.
"The documents in question go directly to an issue the committee has been pursuing, namely whether in speeches and testimony, Mr. Bolton sought to exaggerate the conclusions that could reasonably be drawn from available intelligence," Biden wrote.
Among the documents sought by Democrats are transcripts of 10 communications intercepts involving Americans that Bolton had requested since he took his job as undersecretary of state for arms control in 2001.
The White House says Bolton, a longtime U.N. critic, is needed at the United Nations to promote reform within the world body.
Bolton's office released a letter of support Thursday from former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who wrote that he would bring "great qualities" to the job.
"A capacity for straight talking rather than peddling half-truths is a strength and not a disadvantage in diplomacy," Thatcher wrote.
"Particularly in the case of a great power like America, it is essential that people know where you stand and assume that you mean what you say."
