Ex-employee alleges mistreatment by Bolton

Describes clash over US policy

By Farah Stockman, Globe Staff  |  April 24, 2005

WASHINGTON -- In a new allegation against President Bush's nominee for United Nations ambassador, a woman who worked under John Bolton in the early 1980s has complained that he tried to fire her after they clashed over US policy on infant formula in developing nations.

Lynne D. Finney, now a therapist in Utah, wrote to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Friday, saying Bolton mistreated her when they worked in the General Counsel's Office at the US Agency for International Development. Her accusation is the latest salvo in a pitched battle over Bolton's nomination.

The Senate committee agreed to delay a vote on the nomination in the wake of allegations that he tried to punish two intelligence analysts who disagreed with his conclusions about Cuba and after a USAID contractor asserted that in 1994, Bolton falsely told her business colleagues in Kyrgyzstan that she was under indictment for misappropriating funds.

The White House has insisted that Bolton's blunt, forceful style makes him the best candidate to bring reform to the UN, while Democrats have said that he would alienate US allies at the world body. The committee's eight Democrats have indicated that they will vote against Bolton, so his favorable recommendation from the committee hinges on his ability to gain the support of the 10 Republicans on the panel, including three who have expressed reservations about him.

The committee has said it will close investigations into Bolton's record by May 6, and vote May 12.

Yesterday, Senator Barbara Boxer of California, a Democrat on the committee, distributed Finney's letter to reporters. An aide to Boxer said Democrats will push to include Finney's allegations in the list of claims to be probed.

In the letter, Finney said she was an attorney-adviser in the General Counsel's Office working on policies involving the UN Development Program when Bolton called her into his office in late 1982 or early 1983. She wrote that Bolton asked her to persuade delegates from other countries to vote with the United States to weaken World Health Organization restrictions on marketing of infant formula in the developing world.

Finney said she refused because improper use of the formula can be deadly. For example, mothers in the developing world sometimes mix it with contaminated water or dilute it to make it last longer, humanitarian groups say.

Finney said that Bolton ''shouted that Nestle was an important company and that he was giving me a direct order from President Reagan." The Swiss company is among the top makers of formula.

''He yelled that if I didn't obey him, he would fire me," she wrote. ''I said I could not live with myself if even one baby died because of something I did. . . . He screamed that I was fired."

Bolton has declined to comment on allegations during the confirmation process.

The State Department would not comment last night. But Friday, spokesman Adam Ereli said once the allegations are explored, it will lead to the ''inescapable conclusion that Mr. Bolton would be an excellent ambassador."

Finney, a therapist who has written about ''recovered memories" in childhood sex-abuse cases, said Bolton was not allowed to fire her, but he moved her to a basement office in retaliation. She said that the top USAID administrator at the time, Peter McPherson, came by after the clash to assure her that her career wasn't over.

McPherson, who is now head of the Washington-based Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa, could not be reached for comment about the letter. But in an interview Friday, before Finney's allegations surfaced, McPherson said he could not recall any negative incidents between Bolton and his staff.

''He's a man of strong views, but he listened to people that worked for him," McPherson said.

Farah Stockman can be reached at fstockman@globe.com.