Date: August 10, 2005 3:53:58 PM PDT
Subject: (3) Where Are [Multiple] Investigations into White House "Leaks" Leading?
This news just in: the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports that--
"A source close to the defense said that one of the U.S. officials involved, who has not been indicted, was recently appointed to a senior Bush administration post. The source, who asked not to be identified, would not name the official."
Could it be ... JOHN BOLTON? Or PETER FLORY?
Bush appoints defense official, bypasses Senate
By Charles Aldinger
2 August 2005
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush on Tuesday again bypassed the Senate and appointed Peter Cyril Wyche Flory to be assistant secretary of defense for international security policy.
Bush's nomination of Flory had languished in the Senate since June 2004, held up by Democratic Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan in his fight with the Pentagon over the release of documents mainly related to the Iraq war.
The "recess appointment" by Bush came as Congress was on its August vacation and puts Flory, a Virginian, in the key Defense Department post until January 2007, when the next Congress takes office.
The move came one day after Bush bypassed the Senate, which normally must confirm senior presidential appointments, to install John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Democrats had protested that Bolton, a critic of the world body, would hurt U.S. credibility.
The White House announced Flory's appointment without comment along with several other Bush appointments. But Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman praised the move, charging that the delay in Flory's nomination had nothing to do with his qualifications for the job.
"Since 2001, the Defense Department has operated with an average vacancy of Senate-confirmable political appointments of between 15 and 25 percent," Whitman added.
The spokesman did not name Levin, but noted that "the senator has held his nomination for reasons that were completely unrelated to him, and sought and received thousands of documents that concerned a variety of different policy matters."
Levin, ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, has also blocked approval of Bush's nomination of Eric Edelman to succeed Douglas Feith as undersecretary of defense for policy.
Levin has demanded documents from the Defense Department on intelligence involving Iraq. He and other Democrats have accused Feith's office of manipulating information to support the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Flory was principal deputy assistant defense secretary for international security affairs, a job he held last year when nominated by Bush to step up to the policy secretary's job.
He also has served as chief investigative counsel and special counsel for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
Flory earlier worked in counter-terrorism at the State Department after earning his bachelor's degree from McGill University and a law degree from Georgetown University.
