Envoy nominee withdrawn

WASHINGTON – Facing almost certain defeat in the Senate, the White House on Wednesday withdrew the ambassadorial nomination of Sam Fox, who contributed $50,000 to the Swift Boat veterans’ controversial campaign against Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., in the 2004 presidential race.

President Bush had nominated Fox, a St. Louis businessman, to be the U.S. envoy to Belgium.

Fox was a key donor to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the group that raised questions about Kerry’s record as a Navy lieutenant leading patrols along South Vietnam’s inland waterways during the Vietnam War. Kerry was awarded a Bronze Star, a Silver Star and three Purple Heart decorations for his service in Vietnam, but the group – in television advertisements and e-mail messages – maintained he had exaggerated his actions in combat.

Kerry, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, subjected Fox to sharp questioning during the panel’s hearing on the nomination last month. Kerry scolded him for contributing to a group the senator said was “smearing and spreading lies.”

The nomination was withdrawn less than an hour before the committee was scheduled to vote on it amid indications that Fox would be defeated.