Tuesday, April 13, 2004
Ashcroft taken to task
It looks like the 9/11 panel is going to take Big John to task. Draft reports are reporting that he was pretty uninterested in dealing with the terrorist threat, and he decided in August 2001 to reject a request from the FBI to greatly expand their counterterrorism programs.
They (panel officials) said the reports would also quote from internal memorandums by Thomas J. Pickard, acting director of the F.B.I. in summer 2001, in which Mr. Pickard described his frustration with Mr. Ashcroft and what he saw as the attorney general's lack of interest in the issue of how the bureau was investigating terrorism suspects in the United States.
To make matters worse for BJ (that is funny, my acronym is satirically appropriate. I didn't even realize that until I typed it in), it seems he stopped flying commercially on govt business, supposedly due to threats unrelated to al qaida. He started using the FBI's $40 million Gulfstream 5 jet.
Current and former F.B.I. officials have told the commission that they were infuriated by Mr. Ashcroft's use of the jet and that it was seen as emblematic of his detachment from the needs of investigators.
Mr. Corallo said Mr. Ashcroft used the plane only when it was not needed for other business by the F.B.I., which is part of the Justice Department. Previously, Mr. Ashcroft, like others attorneys general, had flown on commercial airlines when traveling on government business.
Sounds a little fishy to me. And it sounds as though for whatever reason, the terrorist threat was ignored by BJ. But then again, that is one side of the story. We'll see what comes out when he is questioned further.
Maybe he was otherwise occupied mobilizing his fight against porn.
They (panel officials) said the reports would also quote from internal memorandums by Thomas J. Pickard, acting director of the F.B.I. in summer 2001, in which Mr. Pickard described his frustration with Mr. Ashcroft and what he saw as the attorney general's lack of interest in the issue of how the bureau was investigating terrorism suspects in the United States.
To make matters worse for BJ (that is funny, my acronym is satirically appropriate. I didn't even realize that until I typed it in), it seems he stopped flying commercially on govt business, supposedly due to threats unrelated to al qaida. He started using the FBI's $40 million Gulfstream 5 jet.
Current and former F.B.I. officials have told the commission that they were infuriated by Mr. Ashcroft's use of the jet and that it was seen as emblematic of his detachment from the needs of investigators.
Mr. Corallo said Mr. Ashcroft used the plane only when it was not needed for other business by the F.B.I., which is part of the Justice Department. Previously, Mr. Ashcroft, like others attorneys general, had flown on commercial airlines when traveling on government business.
Sounds a little fishy to me. And it sounds as though for whatever reason, the terrorist threat was ignored by BJ. But then again, that is one side of the story. We'll see what comes out when he is questioned further.
Maybe he was otherwise occupied mobilizing his fight against porn.
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