Congress wants to chat with Ashcroft

June 2, 2007

James Comey’s revelations from two weeks ago continue to reverberate on the Hill. Not surprisingly, lawmakers now want to hear from the man who could shed quite a bit of light on the subject: Former Attorney General John Ashcroft.

The Senate and House Intelligence Committees are asking former attorney general John Ashcroft to testify about a March 2004 hospital-room confrontation during which he refused to sign off on a continuation of President Bush’s warrantless eavesdropping program, according to congressional and administration sources.

The sources, who asked not to identified talking about sensitive matters, said the Senate Intelligence Committee has tentatively scheduled a closed-door hearing for later this month. The panel plans to question Ashcroft, his former chief of staff David Ayres and former deputy attorney general James Comey about a heated dispute with the White House that roiled the Justice Department three years ago. The House committee is also planning a separate closed-door hearing with Ashcroft, according to a spokeswoman for Ashcroft.

The requests for Ashcroft’s testimony reflect the mounting frustration on the part of committee leaders in both chambers who feel they have been denied vital information about the wiretapping issue by the Bush administration. Despite having received numerous private briefings from senior administration officials over the last year, members were stunned to learn just how deeply troubled the Justice Department was about aspects of the program — a glimpse they got only when Comey publicly testified about the program at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last month.

Might Ashcroft be willing to accept this invitation? His spokesperson said he is out of town and is unavailable to discuss the matter until next week.

Newsweek added that there will be a meeting on Monday between Senate Intelligence Committee aides and Justice Department officials to discuss the “contours” of the testimony. If Ashcroft declined to cooperate, “the committees could ultimately issue subpoenas.”

Forget John Ashcroft. Mrs. Ashcroft should be brought before the committee and asked exactly who from the White House spoke to her the night of Gonzales-Card visit. Junior perchance? She can’t possibly be covered by executive privilege.

  • I’m glad the House Intelligence committee is involved because the Senate Intelligence Committee, though it has a democratic majority, one of the members is a Republican in Democratic clothing. In a vote on June 1 , ’07 the senate intelligence committee could have ended torture but Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) voted with the republicans for more torture. He voted to continue funding for “more” torture instead of to limit interrogation practices to abide by the Army Field Manual. But that didn’t allow “enough” torture for Bill Nelson, although it still allowed the president in a “dire emergency” to use other techniques, Senator Bill Nelson wanted more torture to be standard so his tie-breaking vote went with the Republicans to keep funding all torture. Senator Hagel (R-NE) also voted again for torture.
    We need to eliminate Senator Bill Nelsen (D-FL) in the primaries if possible as there is very little difference between him and a republican in his place. He, alone, passed on the opportunity to end torture…how pathetic…even going against his own party to continue torturing. Sleeping good at night Bill?

  • Oh, forgot to mention, the above comment #2 is based on or comes from the daily kos article…read it, it has it all on Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL).

  • I think rege’s suggestion — @1 — is *brilliant*.

    And, in addition to what rege says, Ashcroft was drugged to the gills but Mrs Ashcroft wasn’t. She could easily confirm what went on in that hospital room, while he’s more likely to equivocate and claim he desn’t really remember.

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