Former Deputy Attorney General James Comey started a firestorm in May when he revealed his 2004 standoff in John Ashcroft’s hospital room. Comey was positioned opposite former White House officials Alberto Gonzales and Andrew Card.
Comey was backed in the encounter by FBI Director Robert Mueller, who allegedly ordered his agents guarding Ashcroft’s room not to evict Comey if Gonzales or Card asked them to. Later, he would tell the two White House aides that he was prepared to resign if the President overruled Comey on the wiretapping program.
Responding to questions this afternoon to the House Judiciary Committee’s Rep. Melvin Watt (D-NC), Mueller for the first time spoke about the Ashcroft hospital visit — and backed Comey to the hilt:
Watt: Can you confirm that you had some serious reservations about the warrantless wiretapping program that kind of led up to this?Mueller: Yes.