Word: ashcrofts
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...ethical cloud stems from the visit then White House Counsel Gonzales paid then Attorney General John Ashcroft back in March 2004, as former Deputy Attorney General James Comey testified to Congress earlier this week. President Bush needed the Attorney General's signature to reauthorize the administration's classified domestic wiretapping program. Trouble is, Ashcroft was in the hospital suffering from acute pancreatitis, and Acting Attorney General Comey refused to sign, because he didn't think the program was legal. So someone, quite possibly Bush, sent Gonzales and chief of staff Andrew Card rushing to Ashcroft's bedside in search...
...could argue that all Gonzales did was zealously represent his client, the President. Gonzales apparently disagreed with Comey on the legality of the program, and he was just pressing his case to Ashcroft, albeit in a rather unseemly way. " The ethics rules let lawyers question each other's decisions," says Professor Nancy Rapoport, an ethics expert at the University of Houston law school. "It's just a little icky when you do it to someone who's in the hospital. But I don't think it rises to the level of anything that's actionable. I think it just fails...
...envelope, and Mr. Card. They came over and stood by the bed. They greeted the Attorney General very briefly. And then Mr. Gonzales began to discuss why they were there - to seek his approval for a matter, and explained what the matter was - which I will not do." Ashcroft bluntly rebuffed Gonzales, but Comey's unwillingness publicly to say what Gonzales said in the hospital room has raised questions about whether Gonzales may have violated executive branch rules regarding the handling of highly classified information, and possibly the law preventing intentional disclosure of national secrets...
...operate, it will help the enemy." Asked about the hospital visit at a press conference today, President Bush declined to provide specifics, saying that the program was "highly classified." Bush also declined to say whether he himself had authorized Gonzales to have the conversation with Ashcroft, as Comey suggested during his testimony may have been the case...
...Whatever was discussed in that hospital room, one thing is clear - Comey's disclosure of that emergency visit to Ashcroft has further weakened Gonzales' already weak support on Capitol Hill. In the last couple of days, Republican Senator Chuck Hagel has joined the call for the Attorney General's resignation. And Thursday Senators Charles Schumer of New York and Diane Feinstein of California announced they intend to introduce a no-confidence motion against Gonzales in the Senate. Senate majority leader Harry Reid supports the motion and his staff say it could come to the floor as soon as next week...