It seems the September 11 Commission shares my feelings about John Ashcroft.
Slade Gorton, former Republican Senator from Washington has had some scathing things to say about the former Senator and Attorney General in the wake of Ashcrofts spin in an attempt to sell books.
In an interview Friday, former Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., said that of all the witnesses interviewed by the commission, Ashcroft was the least interested in helping the panel get at the facts of what had happened before Sept. 11, 2001, so another terrorist attack could be averted. "John was the least cooperative of all the witnesses we had," Gorton said. "He was the only one who refused to submit his written testimony in advance, he probably came with the largest entourage of any of the people we talked to, and he engaged in a disingenuous and partisan attack" on the committee.
According to the members of the Commission who have spoken out, Ashcroft appeared before them, petulant and pedantic; and looking to shift the blame for the horrors of the attacks from the Bush administration and onto the Clinton administration. Yes, we all forget. Bill Clinton was the president who blew off his predecessors warnings about the threat of terrorism, ignored the briefings that were given in July that warned of the event "no one could have imagined" and who ignored the August 6, 2001 PDB with a "you've covered your ass now."
I am very sorry for misremembering those events. It happened on Clinton's watch. I will really have to try to keep this straight, because it would be slander to falsely accuse the current president of dropping the ball.
