August 16, 2007
Ashcroft Was 'In No Condition' For Gonzales, Card Visit
Newly released notes from FBI Director Robert Mueller indicate two White House aides ignored the health concerns of then-Attorney General John Ashcroft as they tried to pressure the AG to sign off on President Bush's secret, possibly unconstitutional domestic spying program.
In the notes [PDF], obtained by the House Judiciary Committee and released today, Mueller seems to have been angered by then-White House Chief of Staff Andy Card and former counsel Alberto Gonzales, who insisted on seeing Ashcroft in his hospital room while the AG was recovering from gall bladder surgery and acute pancreatitis. Mueller says he was tipped off to the visit by then-Deputy AG James Comey, who assumed acting AG powers during his boss' illness.
Having reached Mueller while he was dining with his wife and daughter, Comey said that Ashcroft was "in no condition to see them, much less make decision [sic] to authorize continuation of the program." As is consistent with their sworn testimony, Comey requested Mueller's presence at the hospital to "witness" Ashcroft's condition.
Gonzales, of course, is now attorney general. Mueller and Comey have testified in congressional hearings on the U.S. attorney firings scandal that they and Ashcroft considered the program illegal. (See The Gate's coverage of their testimony here and here.) Details of the program, which was already in place at the time, are still not known. It was eventually abandoned by the Bush administration.
There is reason to believe Card and Gonzales were dispatched to the ailing Ashcroft's bedside under orders from Vice President Dick Cheney. Mueller's notes confirm that he met with Cheney, Gonzales and several other officials the previous day. Both Cheney and Bush have refused to say whether Gonzales and Card were acting on bosses' orders.
The notes are consistent with Comey's testimony that Ashcroft informed Card and Gonzales that they should be talking to the acting AG instead of him. That Card and Gonzales ignored Comey's and Ashcroft's advice is also apparent in Mueller's notes.
Observing that Ashcroft was "feeble, barely articulate, clearly stressed," Mueller told the security detail to clear all visitors, other than relatives, with him.
The notes appear to stack the deck against Gonzales even further. In an appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 24, the AG said of the visit, "When we got there, I would just say that Mr. Ashcroft did most of the talking. We were there maybe five minutes, five or six minutes. Mr. Ashcroft talked about the legal issues in a lucid form."
Comey indicated in his oral testimony that the visits occurred late at night, lending a noirish aura to the ordeal. The time stamps on Mueller's notes indicate the visits weren't so late: he received Comey's call at 7:20, and arrived at the hospital at 7:40.
But that is a relatively minor discrepancy. The release of Mueller's notes will likely set off more calls for Gonzales' ouster, even as lawmakers are scattered across the country for the August recess. The House Democrats who began preliminary proceedings for an impeachment vote on July 31 may see increased momentum for their cause.
Though the notes serve more to confirm than reveal, there are a couple of questions to ask here. Where in the world is John Ashcroft? He's been out of the public eye for the duration of the attorney firings saga. Also: Might a few civil libertarians owe the much-maligned former AG an apology of some kind?
As we've noted before, Bush's refusal to let go of Gonzales' hand is symptomatic of his trademark loyalty in the face of political adversity. Bush has shown that the message sometimes does get through, but so far, too late to salvage the reputation of the one he's protecting -- or his own.
Posted at 6:41 PM
Posted to:
Alberto Gonzales, Attorney Scandal, Bush Administration, Congress, Constitution, Dick Cheney, Homeland Security, James Comey, John Ashcroft, President Bush, Robert Mueller
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