By now you’ve surely heard that Attorney General John Ashcroft formally resigned yesterday. You’ve also probably heard that his hand-written letter of resignation included a few gems for the ages:
* “The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved. The rule of law has been strengthened and upheld in the courts.”
* “I have handwritten this letter so its confidentiality can be maintained until the appropriate arrangements mentioned above can be made.”
Yes, the man is clearly not well.
Regardless, the politics at hand continues to be contentious. The GOP’s far-right base, who Bush rewarded with Ashcroft’s nomination in the first place, still isn’t happy.
A longtime friend of Ashcroft’s expressed bitterness that the White House had originally welcomed him as a lightning rod who drew criticism away from Bush, then decided not to stand by him. “He was something to offer to evangelicals,” said the friend, who declined to be identified. “They used him, and now they’re done with him and he’s being tossed aside.”
If the rest of the religious right feels this way, the movement may demand that Ashcroft’s replacement be as scary as he is.
And speaking of successors, the Washington Post reported that a leading candidate has emerged to take over as Bush’s second-term attorney general.
Administration sources said Ashcroft’s successor is likely to be White House counsel Alberto R. Gonzales.
The conventional wisdom had focused on Larry Thompson, a former Ashcroft deputy, but he reportedly isn’t interested in the job. Other names being thrown around are Marc Racicot, a former Montana governor and chairman of BC04, Rudy Giuliani, New York Gov. George Pataki, and even Alabama’s Bill Pryor, who Bush pushed onto the federal bench through an abuse of the recess-appointment process.
But most reports keep turning back to Gonzales. If the White House counsel is tapped for the post, the White House would once again be inviting another hostile confirmation process. After all, it was Gonzales who described the protections guaranteed by the Geneva Conventions as “quaint” and “obsolete” last year, had to testify before a federal grand jury as part of a criminal investigation of the Bush White House, is a member of the secretive right-wing Council for National Policy, undermined the neutrality of the 9/11 Commission by coordinating with Republican members of the panel before Richard Clarke testified in March, and who helped turn over the vetting process for federal judicial appointments to the conservative Federalist Society.
In other words, if Gonzales is nominated and sent to the Senate for approval, the confirmation hearings may be pretty interesting.