John Ashcroft
Why Does John Ashcroft Hate America?
John Ashcroft thinks civilian courts have "use and utility" for trying terrorists, depending on circumstances. I'm not a member of the John Ashcroft fan club, but the Bush Department of Justice did brag about their criminal convictions of terrorists.
Ashcroft also flatly stated today that "when you have a person in the criminal justice system, you Mirandize them." Such information has eluded the Ranking Member of the the Senate Intelligence Committee, Kit Bond.
Standing by for Bond's hyperbolic response asking Ashcroft why he doesn't care about protecting Americans in 3...2...1...
Corruption Case For Former Ashcroft Aide Goes To Jury
Read More »The case, which went to the jury this afternoon after four hours of closing arguments and three weeks of trial, explored relationships between Justice Department officials and Team Abramoff...
Top Ashcroft Aide Takes The Fifth In Corruption Trial
Read More »A top aide to former Attorney General John Ashcroft claimed his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination Thursday in a trial related to the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal.
David Ayers, who was Ashcroft's chief of staff at the Justice Department during the Bush administration, refused to answer questions under oath about tickets he received from Abramoff's firm and any favors he may have granted for the firm's clients.
Ayers was called as a defense witness in the corruption trial of Abramoff deputy Kevin Ring. Ring faces charges that he illegally influenced federal officials by providing them with expensive meals, drinks and tickets to concerts and sporting events.
Top Ashcroft Aide Refusing to Testify About Role In Abramoff Scandal
Politico reports that Dave Ayres, top aide to John Ashcroft in the Attorney General's office, is threatening to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights in the case against former Abramoff lobbyist Kevin Ring.
David Ayres, the top aide to former Attorney General John Ashcroft, is threatening to take the Fifth to avoid testifying in a case against a GOP lobbyist caught up in the Jack Abramoff scandal, according to lawyers for the lobbyist.
Ayres served as Ashcroft's chief of staff at the Justice Department and is currently the CEO of the Ashcroft Group, Ashcroft's consulting firm. The company has earned millions of dollars in fees from DOJ thanks to a controversial contract awarded the former attorney general to oversee a legal settlement with an Indiana medical devices company.
According to court documents filed by attorneys for Kevin Ring, a former Abramoff lobbyist, Ayres helped free up $16 million in DOJ grants that Abramoff sought for one of his oldest and most lucrative lobbying clients, the Mississippi Choctaw tribe...
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Ridge On How He Was Or Was Not Pressured By Ashcroft and Rumsfeld
Ridge "Backpedals" On Accusations That Ashcroft Pushed Him To Elevate Terror Alerts
Never mind all those things Tom Ridge wrote in his book, I guess. USA Today:
Ridge backpedals on pressure to raise terror alert level
Former Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge, speaking for the first time about accusations made in his new book, says he did not mean to suggest that other top Bush administration officials were playing politics with the nation's security before the 2004 presidential election.
"I'm not second-guessing my colleagues," Ridge said in an interview about The Test of Our Times, which comes out Tuesday and recounts his experiences as head of the nation's homeland security efforts in the first several years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks...
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Ashcroft "saw no problem with waterboarding one detainee 119 times"
Via The Star's Yael T. Abouhalkah, the Time magazine summary of the 2004 report by the CIA Inspector General is a disturbing, but important read. In it, John Ashcroft's actions are featured prominently:
The CIA IG repeatedly brought what it viewed as abuses or violations of law to the attention of Attorney General John Ashcroft and the Justice Department, without any positive result.
After a review of the program determined that one detainee had been waterboarded “in a manner inconsistent with” the description of the technique in military training and in the Justice Department legal guidance, the matter was brought directly to Ashcroft by the CIA general counsel.
According to the report, Ashcroft disagreed with the CIA IG assessment.
Ashcroft responded by telling the CIA that he saw no problem with waterboarding one detainee 119 times, deciding that the “CIA is well within the scope of the DoJ opinion and the authority given to CIA by that opinion.”
This is not the only difference of opinion between the Justice Department and the CIA IG.
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Fmr. Ashcroft Spokesman Denies Ridge's Allegations About Politicizing Terror Alerts
Yesterday, I flagged the story of new allegations from former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge about John Aschroft's role in politicizing terror alert warnings to help George W. Bush's reelection chances in 2004. Coming from such a well-placed GOP official, Ridge's statements are a huge deal, and pretty darn credible.
However, The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz notes that a former Aschroft spokesman is pushing back on Ridge's story.
Read More »Ridge: Ashcroft Pushed Me to Elevate Terror Threat Level To Sway 2004 Election
I can't say I'm surprised by this in any way, but this is incredibly disappointing to read from former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.
Former US homeland security chief Tom Ridge charges in a new book that top aides to then-president George W. Bush pressured him to raise the "terror alert" level to sway the November 2004 US election.
Then defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld and attorney general John Ashcroft pushed him to elevate the color-coded threat level, but Ridge refused, according to a summary from his publisher, Thomas Dunne Books.
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Ashcroft's No-Bid Contract Remains Red-Hot Issue In NJ Governor's Race
New Jersey's Democratic Governor Jon Corzine continues to hammer his Republican opponent, former US Attorney Chris Christie, for the enormous no-bid contract he awarded to John Ashcroft. Corzine faces an uphill battle for reelectoin, but he's clearly found an issue that resonates with Garden State voters.
Read More »Ashcroft's No-Bid Contract a Major Issue in NJ Governor's Race
Previous Fired Up! coverage of John Ashcroft's extremely lucrative no-bid work from former US Attorney Chris Christie may be found here and here.
Congress still looking at Ashcroft's very lucrative no-bid legal work for former subordinate
On Thursday of last week, NJ GOP Gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie was called to testify before Congress about his practice of awarding no-bid contracts when he was US Attorney in New Jersey. Christie is taking heat for his contracting decisions, especially for one contract awarded to former US Attorney General and Missouri Senator John Ashcroft.
In 2007, Achcroft's firm was awarded a no-bid contract by Christie to monitor a deferred prosecution settlement of a kickback case against Zimmer Holdings, a medical device maker. The contract was worth between $27 million and $52 million, and the Ashcroft Consulting Group charged $1.5-$2.9 million every month for the job. Amazingly, $750,000 was paid every month for the service of Ashcroft and two fellow bigwigs.
Not a bad government job, if you can get it.
Read More »Locking down the crucial Old White Dude in Expensive Suit demographic
John Ashcroft endorsed Roy Blunt today.
With former GOP Sen. Ashcroft, former GOP Sen. Jim Talent and former GOP Sen. Jack Danforth in his camp, Blunt seems to have locked down the crucial old-white-dudes-who-used-to-be-in-Congress demographic -- an elusive bloc of voters one generally wouldn't expect to support a candidate like Roy Blunt.
