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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: John Ashcroft

John Ashcroft stories: 24 news summaries

1 - 20 of 24 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

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 Court: Ashcroft on Hook  
 in Post-9/11 Detention Case 

Bush attorney general slammed for imprisonment without charges

Sep 4, 09 7:36 PM CDT
(Newser) - Former Bush attorney general John Ashcroft can be held personally responsible in a lawsuit brought by a US citizen who was detained on suspicion of being a material witness to terrorism but was never charged with a crime, an appellate court ruled today. Abdullah al-Kidd alleged the detention, begun in... More »

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Department of Justice • John Ashcroft • American Civil Liberties Union • US Constitution • appellate court • Abdullah al-Kidd • unconstitutional • material witness


 Ridge Takes 
 Back Threat 
 Level Claim 
 in His Book 

Retreats on earlier suggestion that politics played a role

Aug 31, 09 10:12 AM CDT
(Newser) - Former Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge says the Bush administration “never pressured” him to raise the US terror threat level, backing down on a claim made in his book, USA Today reports. In the book, Ridge writes that John Ashcroft and Donald Rumsfeld pushed him to elevate it before... More »

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Bush administration • politics • Donald Rumsfeld • John Ashcroft • book • George W. Bush • Tom Ridge • alert level

Wiretapping Memos Drafted in 'Inappropriate' Secrecy: Report

Only 3 Justice officials knew of program

Jul 10, 09 4:59 PM CDT
(Newser) - The legal justification for the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program was handled with unprecedented secrecy that sidestepped usual Justice Department procedure, the Washington Post reports. Only three Justice officials—John Ashcroft, John Yoo, and staff attorney James Baker—were made aware of the program and participated in drafting memos... More »

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Bush administration • Department of Justice • John Ashcroft • Department of Defense • secrecy • warrantless wiretapping • John Yoo • James Baker

Groups Move to Disbar Bush Lawyers Over Torture

Target Mukasey, Gonzalez, Ashcroft

May 18, 09 12:42 PM CDT
(Newser) - A coalition of mostly left-leaning organizations is attempting to get a gaggle of Bush officials disbarred for sanctioning torture, the Legal Times reports. In complaints filed with five state bar associations today, the groups accuse ex-attorneys general Michael Mukasey, Alberto Gonzalez, and John Ashcroft—along with nine others—of violating... More »

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Bush administration • torture • Alberto Gonzales • John Ashcroft • lawyer • Michael Mukasey • American Bar Association

Supreme Court Dumps Suit Vs. Mueller, Ashcroft

9/11 detainee faulted FBI head, former AG over confinement rules

May 18, 09 10:29 AM CDT
(AP) - The Supreme Court says a lawsuit against FBI Director Robert Mueller and former Attorney General John Ashcroft by a former Sept. 11 detainee cannot go forward. The court today overturned a lower court decision that let Javaid Iqbal's lawsuit against the high-ranking officials proceed. Iqbal is a Pakistani Muslim who... More »

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FBI • John Ashcroft • Robert Mueller • September 11 • lawsuit • detainee • US Supreme Court • attorney general • Javaid Iqbal

Secret White House
Memos OK'd Waterboarding

Fearing backlash, CIA sought and received support

Oct 15, 08 7:17 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Bush administration gave its blessing in writing for the CIA to use waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques in two secret memos that have only now come to light, the Washington Post reveals. Intelligence officials sought to get something on paper in 2003—more than a year after the... More »

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CIA • torture • John Ashcroft • interrogation • waterboarding • interrogation techniques • George J. Tenet • harsh interrogation • terror suspects • George W. Bush

Opinion

  In Politicizing
 Justice,
 'Appalling'
 Betrayal

By injecting politics into hiring, Gonzales & Co. shatter public's faith

Jul 29, 08 12:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - New confirmation that the Justice Department used political criteria in hiring for career positions shouldn’t just outrage the maybe-liberals they discriminated against, derailing careers because they were gay, say, or had a wife who was a Democrat, a former Clinton administration official writes in the Washington Post. It’s... More »

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Alberto Gonzales • Department of Justice • Attorney General • John Ashcroft • career • political appointee • Jamie Gorelick

Justices Will Decide If Immigrant Can Sue Ashcroft

Pakistani man alleges abuse in post-9/11 roundup; top fed brass claims immunity

Jun 16, 08 3:01 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Supreme Court today agreed to hear an appeal from John Ashcroft, with the former attorney general insisting top government officials cannot be sued by immigrants who allege they were beaten and abused after 9/11. Lower courts have refused to dismiss a suit from a man who was held for... More »

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Pakistan • John Ashcroft • Robert Mueller • US Supreme Court

 Showdown Looms
 Over Cheney Staffer 

VP battling House subpoena for key aide on interrogation policy

May 7, 08 10:13 AM CDT
(Newser) - Whether a key Dick Cheney aide can be forced to testify is at the heart of a pending blow-up between Congress and the White House over a probe into interrogation techniques, Reuters reports. The House Judiciary Committee plans to subpoena Cheney's chief of staff, David Addington—but the vice president... More »

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Dick Cheney • CIA • John Ashcroft • House Judiciary Committee • executive privilege • subpoena • Josh Bolten • waterboarding • interrogation techniques • David Addington • harsh interrogation

Top Bushies Personally OK'd Tough Interrogation Tactics

Meetings show high-level approval of CIA's 'enhanced' detainee treatment

Apr 10, 08 3:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - Senior White House officials explicitly approved interrogation technique details in several meetings beginning in 2002, sources tell ABC. It was previously known that the CIA drafted a “Golden Shield” memo approving highly specific tactics for use on al-Qaeda detainees, but that top officials—including Condoleezza Rice, Dick Cheney, Colin... More »

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Dick Cheney • CIA • Donald Rumsfeld • John Ashcroft • Condoleezza Rice • Colin Powell • interrogation techniques

Justice Makes Corporate Deals, Avoids Trials

'Deferred prosecutions' cheaper, but may tempt companies to cheat

Apr 9, 08 9:43 AM CDT
(Newser) - Instead of indicting major corporations for fraud and other forms of malfeasance, the Bush administration is relying more and more on deferred prosecutions, allowing companies to pay a fine and accept monitoring instead of going to trial. The name of the monitor and the details of the agreement are often... More »

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Department of Justice • fraud • John Ashcroft • corporations • corporate monitoring • Arthur Anderson • deferred prosecution

 Court Hears Gun Case Today 

Nation's firearms laws in the balance as Supremes hear arguments

Mar 18, 08 9:08 AM CDT
(Newser) - One of the oldest and most hotly debated constitutional amendments—the right to bear arms—comes under scrutiny by the Supreme Court today. The court will hear arguments on the constitutionality of Washington DC's stringent ban on handguns. The ruling, which will arrive in June, is sure to have a... More »

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Department of Justice • John Roberts • John Ashcroft • Washington DC • gun control • Anthony Kennedy • Second Amendment • US Supreme Court • National Rifle Association • handgun • constitutional law • gun ban • Scotus • Temple University • David Kairys • Dick Anthony Heller

Dems Slam Ashcroft for 'Backroom' $52M Contract

Ex-AG denies charges in House hearing

Mar 11, 08 4:22 PM CDT
(Newser) - John Ashcroft angrily denied congressional Democrats' allegations today that a lucrative no-bid contract the Justice Department awarded him represents a conflict of interest, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Democrats characterized the contract as a “backroom sweetheart deal” because Ashcroft's ex-subordinates selected his firm to monitor a medical supply company... More »

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Department of Justice • Attorney General • John Ashcroft • House Judiciary Committee • lobbyists • conflict of interest • corporate monitoring

Reporter Held in Contempt in Anthrax Story

Fine reaches $5K a day
until she discloses source

Mar 8, 08 7:16 AM CST
(Newser) - A judge yesterday held a former USA Today reporter in contempt of court for refusing to disclose her sources in stories about the 2001 anthrax attacks, the AP reports. He also ordered her to pay daily fines reaching $5,000 out of her own pocket until she cooperates . The reporter... More »

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John Ashcroft • September 11 • journalism • anthrax • journalistic ethics • Steven J. Hatfill • Toni Locy

Doctor Sues
3 Officials in Anthrax Case

Claims they leaked
info, caused 'severe emotional distress'

Jan 13, 08 5:02 PM CST
(Newser) - A former army doctor identified as a "person of interest" in the 2001 anthrax attacks is suing three US officials for leaking information about him, the Los Angeles Times reports. In his five-year-old suit, physician Steven Hatfill claims the case caused him "severe emotional distress" and hindered his... More »

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Department of Justice • US attorney • FBI • John Ashcroft • physician • lawsuit • doctor • District of Columbia • anthrax • steven hatfill

FBI Chief Refutes Gonzales

Mueller's notes call hospitalized Ashcroft 'barely articulate'

Aug 17, 07 12:11 PM CDT
(Newser) - Newly released notes taken by the FBI director in 2004 contradict Alberto Gonzales' Senate testimony about the internal conflict over the warrantless wiretapping program. Robert Mueller's heavily redacted notes refer to hospitalized AG John Ashcroft as "feeble" and "barely articulate," the Washington Post reports—a far cry... More »

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Alberto Gonzales • Department of Justice • FBI • John Ashcroft • James Comey • Robert Mueller • NSA • warrantless wiretapping

Let Gonzo
Off the
Perjury Hook

He's a creep but
not a criminal, says Post’s Marcus

Jul 31, 07 4:52 PM CDT
(Newser) - Alberto Gonzales’ Senate testimony last week was a disgraceful exercise in dodging, but the perjury charge Democratic senators have been hawking ever since doesn’t hold water, says  the Washington Post’s lefty Ruth Marcus. In an “unexpected position,” the writer defends Gonzales, saying he may have minced... More »

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Alberto Gonzales • Attorney General • John Ashcroft • Senate • surveillance • perjury • wiretap • scandal

FBI Chief's Testimony Contradicts Gonzales

Democrats demand perjury probe

Jul 27, 07 5:14 AM CDT
(Newser) - Pressure mounted on Alberto Gonzales yesterday as FBI director Robert Mueller directly contradicted the attorney general in testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. Mueller and Gonzales gave dramatically different accounts about  whether the Justice department's secret eavesdropping program was the subject of the now-legendary nighttime confrontation at the hospital bedside... More »

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Alberto Gonzales • Department of Justice • FBI • John Ashcroft • House Judiciary Committee • Robert Mueller • testimony • National Security Agency • Terrorist Surveillance Program • eavesdrop

Intel Memo Contradicts Gonzales

Senator threatens perjury probe over conflicting accounts

Jul 26, 07 8:39 AM CDT
(Newser) - Alberto Gonzales' Senate testimony this week is at odds with a year-old intelligence document, and the discrepancy may earn the AG in a congressional perjury investigation. At issue is a 2004 White House briefing, which Gonzales has repeatedly testified did not concern the warrantless wiretapping program; a memo from the... More »

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Alberto Gonzales • John Ashcroft • Senate Judiciary Committee • Arlen Specter • Patrick Leahy • National Security Agency • Terrorist Surveillance Program • warrantless wiretapping

AG Refutes Account of Hospital Visit

Senators assail Gonzales in acrimonious oversight hearing

Jul 24, 07 4:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - Alberto Gonzales today refuted an ex-colleague's dramatic testimony about a 2004 visit to John Ashcroft's hospital bed, but the Senate Judiciary Committee wasn't buying it. Patrick Leahy and Arlen Specter were openly skeptical of the AG's account of the scene in John Ashcroft's room, and Specter raised the possibility of... More »

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Congress • Alberto Gonzales • Democrats • Republican • Attorney General • John Ashcroft • James Comey • NSA • hospital • testimony • warrantless wiretapping • Deputy Attorney General • George W. Bush

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