Congress might then ask Ashcroft under oath such questions as: “While you were Attorney General, did you ever feel pressured into doing anything you felt was in any way illegal?” “If so, give details.” “Were you ever asked to fire any U.S. Attorneys and if so, by whom and why?” “Did you believe the spying on Americans without a search warrant was illegal?” “Why do you think you lost your job?” “Do you think it could have been for political reasons?”
You might want to use the following arguments for using him as a witness:
(1) It appears that previous Attorney General Ashcroft may have been fired for political reasons along with the 9 U. S. Attorneys.
(2) Ashcroft has been closely involved with the present administration, an insider who probably knows plenty, enough to give some valuable testimony.
(3) Since he is not in any trouble, Ashcroft would more likely be willing to give honest testimony than the Bush loyalists.
(4) In spite of his obvious faults, Ashcroft appears to have some integrity regarding enforcing what he felt was the law and less likely to lie under oath.
(5) He may be our only hope of obtaining any testimony that might incriminate Bush. Rove & Gonzales are inclined to want to protect Bush since they are relying on him to pardon them if they get convicted. On the other hand, it is doubtful that Ashcroft would be willing to lie for Bush, esp. if Bush fired him for not doing something he felt was illegal.
If Ashcroft had remained the Attorney General, it is possible or likely that none of the U.S. attorneys would have been fired for political reasons and certain aspects of the spy program might not have been approved. I say this for the following reasons:
On MEET THE PRESS one Sunday, fired U.S. Attorney Iglesias told viewers that:
"I recall John Ashcroft sitting me in, in his office and saying ‘POLITICS HAS NO PART OF YOUR JOB AS A U.S. ATTORNEY’.”
Also, it sounds like Ashcroft may have been unwilling to give his approval to certify certain aspects of the NSA Spy Program while he was still Attorney General because he felt it was illegal according to a New York Times article. See:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F06E7D8...
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