For White House, Bolton debate about state of U.N.

The White House is shifting debate away from John R. Bolton, President Bush’s embattled nominee to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and toward the scandal-plagued U.N. itself.

“We are going to make the case from here on out that this is about reform — or more of the same — at the U.N.,” a senior administration official told The Washington Times.

“Senators are realizing this is about the U.N.,” added the official, who discussed Mr. Bolton on the condition of anonymity. “And they know the president is firmly behind him.”

To underscore the point, the White House wants Mr. Bolton to meet with Sen. George V. Voinovich to assuage the Ohio Republican’s concerns about the nominee’s temperament, which some consider abrasive.

The official said Mr. Bush thinks Mr. Voinovich, who last week put the Bolton nomination on hold until May 12, “will support him once questions are addressed.”

Voinovich spokeswoman Marcie Ridgway would not answer questions about a White House-brokered meeting with the nominee, saying only that the senator “is still reviewing Bolton’s record.”

Enlisting the support of Mr. Voinovich would allow the administration to focus more on the United Nations, which has been rocked by scandals ranging from the oil-for-food program in Iraq to sexual abuse by peacekeepers in Africa.

Mr. Voinovich is not the only Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who is being aggressively lobbied by the White House. Sens. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island are also being courted.

“We’re staying in close contact with GOP senators and making sure they have the facts,” the administration official said.

The effort is being led by White House congressional liaison Candida Wolff and includes Matt Kirk and Deb Fiddelke, who specialize in Senate relations.

At the State Department, where Mr. Bolton is undersecretary for arms control and international security, officials have set up a rapid-response effort to answer any accusations that might arise against Mr. Bolton. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday called for the nominee to be confirmed without further delay.

“We’ve tried to be as responsive as possible to all of the questions that have been asked,” she told reporters in Texas. “But I would really hope now that people will move forward on John Bolton’s nomination.”

Democrats say Mr. Bolton is unqualified both because of his past statements questioning the abilities of the United Nations and because of a series of recent charges that he has bullied colleagues and subordinates, including in some instances trying to have intelligence analysts bolster the intelligence claims he wanted to use in speeches.

State Department spokesman Adam Ereli lashed out at what he called a string of unsubstantiated press stories aimed at torpedoing the Bolton nomination.

“I think what we’re seeing, frankly, is a pattern that’s emerging,” Mr. Ereli said. “Charges get made, many of them either unsourced or based on distant and vague memories or really short of details. And then, when you look at them closely, you find out that the facts don’t add up or that they can’t be substantiated.”

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