Bolton: Melody Townsel Debunking

Melody Townsel, who helped found the Dallas chapter of Mothers Opposing Bush, levied accusations against John Bolton that Bolton chased her down the hallway of her hotel room in Moscow and pounded on her door. Senators Biden, Boxer, et.al. have trumpeted these accusations to claim that Bolton is temperamentally unfit to be UN Ambassador.

Jayant S. Kalotra, the owner of IBTCI, the firm for which Bolton and Townsel (as an employee of a subcontractor) worked wrote a letter to the Foreign Relations Committee calling Townsel's recollection of events into serious dispute.

NRO editor Rich Lowry spoke with Kalotra:

He says that he was “astounded” to see her story in the newspaper. “I had never heard of that.” He says, “Mr. Bolton had never spoken to any of our employees in Moscow or Washington even firmly. He was a very correct individual to work” with. More: “I told him he would follow the rules of IBTCI and he was very respectful of that.” Asked if he believes Townsel, he says, “I don't. It's a small company and we hear of these things. I didn't know or hear of anything like that.”

More corroboration from the firm that hired Townsel:

Black says that “during that time she never uttered John Bolton's name to me. If that had happened [the hotel incident], I couldn't imagine that she wouldn't have said something given the minor nature of her complaints that she did share.” Black notes he is also friends with Bolton who surely would have told him had he had a run-in with one of his employees. Black sums up: “It doesn't make sense.”

A bit more debunking:

But this former officer of ICBTC doesn't think that Bolton would have over-lapped with Townsel in the Moscow hotel at the time he was involved in the investigation of her conduct: “It is difficult for me to understand. It doesn't make sense.”

Kalotra, apparently, has interestingly been a big Democratic supporter.