Hello, Kossacks:
Apparently, the SFRC staff began distributing the transcripts related to my story regarding John Bolton late yesterday -- and the MSM coverage is already frustrating at best.
In one AP story, they pull a single quote out of context and say that I've softened my criticism of Mr. Bolton. If you read my entire transcript, you'll know that that's simply not true. More below:
The Washington Post says the transcripts provide a "murky picture" of what happened back in Moscow -- although they received the transcript of a contemporaneous witness able to verify all parts of my story. In fact, Fox News last night even reported the contemporaneous verification of Bolton's behavior toward me.
The Post, however, goes long with quotes from Matthew Freedman, about whom I've been posting lately. I'm attaching a paragraph below regarding Matthew -- and, as you read it, keep in mind that Matthew a) helped Bolton make the hook up with IBTCI, the other company in that legal dispute in Moscow; b) indicated to me at the time that he was the one who urged IBTCI to hire Bolton to represent them legally in our dispute; c) urged me to act against our own employer's corporate interests in the underlying dispute; and, perhaps most imporant, d) isn't really one of Bolton's top aides in that he's a civil servant, but in that he's been on a sweetheart consulting contract with Bolton for a number of years.
WaPo: "Oddly, one of Bolton's current top aides, Matthew Freedman, was also Townsel's supervisor at the time. He told the committee in an interview Wednesday that Townsel "was very creative" and "very good" but she had a tendency to "exaggerate and use language that was inflammatory." He denied her claim that he had directed her to talk to Bolton, then a lawyer handling issues for one of the companies, and said he had "no memory" of her mentioning Bolton at the time."
Might a six-figure annual consulting contract have something to do with Matthew's "memory"? Again, I urge you all to check out Steve Clemons' www.thewashingtonnote.com re: Freedman.