Via Reuters: State Dept admits Bolton gave inaccurate answers

The State Department reversed itself on Thursday night and acknowledged that
President Bush’s U.N. ambassador nominee gave Congress inaccurate information about an investigation he was involved in.

The acknowledgment came after the State Department had earlier insisted nominee John Bolton’s “answer was truthful” when he said he had not been questioned or provided information to jury or government investigations in the past five years.

I don’t have time to fully digest this story at the moment, but my gut reaction is, at this point, that the nomination of Bolton appears to be sufficiently wounded to the point that it would almost certainly be wiser for Bush to withdraw the nomination.

In this, I concur with James Joyner.

I am certain that a recess appointment would be foolish and not worth the political capital that would be expended in its execution. Indeed, given the exponentially more important SCOUTS nomination before the Senate, it makes sense to be a bit conciliatory and compromise on Bolton. I am not sure that UN Ambassador is worth this much fighting, to be honest, even if I share Bolton’s general evaluation of the institution in question.