Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft, whose unapologetic support for broader surveillance and investigative powers after the Sept. 11 attacks drew bitter criticism from civil liberties groups, resigned Tuesday. Commerce Secretary Don Evans, one of President Bush’s closest friends, also left the Cabinet.
The departures are the first of what are expected to be several changes in the Bush administration as the president begins his second term in January.
Evans, a longtime friend of the president’s from Texas, maintained a low public profile in the Cabinet. Ashcroft, in contrast, while not part of Bush’s inner circle, was one of the most high-profile members of the administration, with a vocal following among conservative Christians and many detractors in the legal and civil rights communities.
Ashcroft’s nearly four-year tenure was defined by the Sept. 11 attacks, which prompted a refocusing of the Justice Department from its traditional concentration on crime and civil rights to a new emphasis on terrorism prevention and investigation.
In leaving, Ashcroft was blunt about what he thought he had achieved. “The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved,” he said in a five-page handwritten note to Bush dated Nov. 2 but released Tuesday.
Ashcroft touted arrests after the 2001 attacks but drew fire for his department’s increased scrutiny of the American Muslim community, which sometimes led to criminal prosecutions and deportations but rarely to terrorism arrests.
There have been no jury convictions on post-Sept. 11 terror charges.
The attorney general, a Chicago native, conservative Missourian and son of an Assemblies of God minister, was an ardent champion of the USA Patriot Act, a sweeping measure passed just weeks after Sept. 11 with the expressed goal of removing legal barriers to investigating and capturing terrorists.
But the law is controversial because it makes it easier for the government to spy on and gather personal information about people. It loosens restrictions on electronic eavesdropping and allowing authorities to secretly obtain personal data such as store receipts, library withdrawals, and bank and medical records.
In a statement on Ashcroft’s resignation, Bush praised the attorney general for “making sure our law-enforcement officials have the tools they need to disrupt and prevent attacks” while making “sure that the rights of Americans are respected and protected.”
But that is far from a consensus view.
In a statement, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) wished Ashcroft well but said Bush “now has the opportunity to appoint a new attorney general who will protect not only our safety, but our constitutional rights as well.”
Earlier this year, Ashcroft, 62, missed a month of work while his gallbladder was removed. It was not immediately clear whether his departure is health-related.
Evans, 58, was chairman of the Bush campaign in 2000 and played a big role in the building of a large campaign war chest for his old friend from their Texas oil-business days.
He had been considered a possible replacement for Andrew Card, the president’s chief of staff, or John Snow, secretary of the treasury. But Bush announced Monday that Card would remain in his post. It is not clear whether Snow will stay, but he has indicated he would like to.
The front-runner to replace Evans is Mercer Reynolds III, a Cincinnati businessman who raised $260 million as the national finance chairman of Bush’s re-election effort. He also played a key role in the president’s business career.
Though no leading contender has emerged for Ashcroft’s job, speculation has centered on White House counsel Alberto Gonzales and former Deputy Atty. Gen. Larry Thompson, now in the private sector.
Naming either man would allow Bush to score points with minorities. Gonzales is Hispanic, and Thompson is black.
“The president will move as quickly as possible” to fill the posts, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said.
Whoever succeeds Ashcroft will be hard-pressed to match the attention commanded by the attorney general, who was not shy about declaring successes in the war on terrorism.
In addition to his work on terrorism, Ashcroft also dealt with scandals related to corporate governance, most notably the fall of Enron.
In October 2002, he flew to Chicago to announce the arrest of Enaam Arnaout on charges of using an Illinois-based charity, Benevolence International Foundation, to funnel money to Al Qaeda.
But the case fell apart and Arnaout was convicted only of fraud. The judge described the charges as “sensational and highly publicized” and specified that “Arnaout does not stand convicted of a terrorism offense.”
“Ashcroft was far better at holding press conferences than he was at winning terrorism cases,” said Chicago defense attorney Thomas Durkin, who represents a northern Virginia man charged with involvement with Hamas, a group labeled as terrorist by the U.S. government.
This September, a federal judge in Detroit threw out convictions of three men Ashcroft once said were “suspected of having knowledge” of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The Justice Department later retracted Ashcroft’s comment, and the judge reprimanded Ashcroft for violating a gag order.
Ashcroft will be remembered as “the most powerful and effective attorney general in the country’s history,” said Viet Dinh, a former assistant attorney general for legal policy under Ashcroft.
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John Ashcroft
BEFORE PUBLIC SERVICE
1964: Graduated from Yale University.
1967: Received a law degree from the University of Chicago.
– Taught business law at Southwest Missouri State University.
PUBLIC SERVICE
1973-75: Missouri state auditor
1976-1985: Missouri attorney general
1985-1993: Governor of Missouri
1994: Elected to U.S. Senate
2000: Lost Senate re-election bid to Mel Carnahan, who died
weeks before the election. Carnahan’s wife assumed the
seat.
2001: Appointed U.S. attorney general.
AS ATTORNEY GENERAL
– Pushed for creation of the USA Patriot Act, a law that gives the government more surveillance powers, allows it to hold suspects without charging them and permits secret proceedings in terrorist-related cases.
– Sought to limit judges’ flexibility to reduce the sentences of criminals.
– Pushed to have the death penalty applied more uniformly nationwide.
– Approved court actions seeking abortion records.
– Targeted Internet pornography sites for high-profile crackdowns.
Donald Evans
BEFORE PUBLIC SERVICE
1975: Worked as a “roughneck” for Tom Brown Inc., a Texas oil company. Later, became the company’s CEO.
2000: Served as chairman of Bush’s campaign.
AS SECRETARY OF COMMERCE
– Helped win passage of $1.3 trillion tax cut sought by Bush.
– Lobbied for a 2002 law granting the president Trade Promotion
Authority, designed to speed up U.S. trade agreements with foreign countries.
Sources: Wire reports and White House
Chicago Tribune
