{"id":1864,"date":"2004-06-01T12:51:53","date_gmt":"2004-06-01T17:51:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com\/archives\/1864.html"},"modified":"2004-06-01T12:51:53","modified_gmt":"2004-06-01T17:51:53","slug":"is-ashcroft-on-his-way-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/is-ashcroft-on-his-way-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Ashcroft on his way out?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s hard not to notice that Attorney General John Ashcroft is just about out of friends.<\/p>\n

Bush already leaked word a couple of months ago that he was displeased<\/a> at the way in which Ashcroft tried to smear 9\/11 Commission member Jamie Gorelick. It was a rare public rebuke for Bush, who usually praises his cabinet members, even when they’re spectacularly wrong<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The White House was similarly frustrated last week when Ashcroft made the administration look even less competent by issuing a warning to the public about an imminent al Queda attack without talking to the Department of Homeland Security<\/a> and without any new evidence<\/a> pointing to an imminent threat.<\/p>\n

And the White House can’t be thrilled with the way in which Ashcroft keeps losing<\/a> high-profile<\/a> legal fights<\/a> in federal courts.<\/p>\n

Has Bush reached the tipping point with Ashcroft? Time is reporting<\/a> that the attorney general may officially have fallen out of favor with White House officials. Worse news for Ashcroft — Bush seems to have already chosen a replacement.<\/p>\n

Well-placed Republican sources say the President has gone out of his way to take the spotlight off the Attorney General at high-profile law-enforcement-related events. It was Ashcroft’s former deputy, Larry Thompson, now a visiting law professor at the University of Georgia, who joined Bush at a recent event promoting the Patriot Act in Buffalo, N.Y. And the White House prevailed upon Thompson to sit near Ashcroft during his testimony before the 9\/11 commission in an attempt to soften the Attorney General’s hard edge with commission members, who have grown contemptuous of his imperious manner and methods.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

Thompson, an African American, left Justice after serving almost two years under Ashcroft. Many believe Thompson may be back and in the top job if Bush wins a second term. In Buffalo, Bush extolled Thompson’s credentials before a crowd and implied that Justice needs him back. “Larry, we miss you over there,” Bush said. “Don’t get too comfortable.” Bush partisans interpreted those remarks — and Thompson’s rising profile — as a sign the President is giving up on a long-term future for his truculent Attorney General. Said one: “Ashcroft will not be the A.G. by Christmas if Bush wins.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The only question now is, will anyone miss Ashcroft when he’s gone?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s hard not to notice that Attorney General John Ashcroft is just about out of friends. Bush already leaked word a couple of months ago that he was displeased at the way in which Ashcroft tried to smear 9\/11 Commission member Jamie Gorelick. It was a rare public rebuke for Bush, who usually praises his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[617],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1864\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}