On Capitol Hill, Republican Senator Lincoln Chafee said that Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will soon meet to decide whether they should recommend President Bush withdraw John Bolton’s nomination to become ambassador to the United Nations. Bolton’s nomination was dealt a major setback Tuesday when the Republican-led committee postponed a vote in order to allow three more weeks of investigations into allegations that Bolton regularly abused his power. On Wednesday the White House defended Bolton and accused Democrats of manufacturing “trumped up” allegations to discredit him. The Associated Press is reporting that committee Democrats now want to interview former deputy CIA director John McLaughlin and two other high-ranking intelligence officials about possible efforts by Bolton to transfer a Latin America intelligence analyst who had disagreed with him. Meanwhile the Washington Post has reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has ordered her senior staff not to release any information that could hurt Bolton’s nomination. The State Department denies such an order was given.