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Bush Personally Sent Card And Gonzo To Ashcroft's Hospital Bed
This great catch by Marcy Wheeler might be the most shocking nugget of all from the IGs report on surveillance.
The report goes into some detail about that famous visit made by Andy Card and Alberto Gonzales to then-AG John Ashcroft, when Ashcroft was in the hospital, and essentially incapacitated, after gall bladder surgery. The White House needed the Attorney General's sign-off to continue its warrantless wiretapping program.
For years, there's been a mystery about who called the hospital and informed Ashcroft's wife, over her objections, that Card and Gonzo would be coming to see the AG. And it looks like the answer is the president himself.
From the report:
According to notes from Ashcroft's FBI security detail, at 6:20 p.m. that evening Card called the hospital and spoke with an agent in Ashcroft's security detail, advising him that President Bush would be calling shortly to speak with Ashcroft. Ashcroft's wife told the agent that Ashcroft would not accept the call. Ten minutes later, the agent called Ashcroft's Chief of Staff David Ayres at DOJ to request that Ayres speak with Card about the President's intention to call Ashcroft. The agent conveyed to Ayres Mrs. Ashcroft's desire that no calls be made to Ashcroft for another day or two. However, at 6:45 p.m., Card and the President called the hospital and, according to the agent's notes, "insisted on speaking [with Attorney General Ashcroft]." According to the agent's notes, Mrs. Ashcroft took the call from Card and the President and was informed that Gonzales and Card were coming to the hospital to see Ashcroft regarding a matter involving national security. (our itals)
In other words, President Bush, apparently knowing that Ashcroft's wife did not want him seeing visitors or even speaking on the phone, nonetheless informed her that his staff would be coming to the hospital to get the sign-off they needed.
The passage essentially confirms a report from last year by Murray Waas in The Atlantic that Gonzo had told investigators that it was indeed President Bush who directed him to Ashcroft's bedside. And the president's call itself was first reported by Barton Gellman in his 2008 book Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency.
Of course, in Ashcroft's finest moment, Card and Gonzales were unsuccessful. But they would soon find ways to get around the problem.
Josh
Zachary
It sums up George W. Bush very well to note he was able to make John Ashcroft look good.
July 10, 2009 5:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ashcroft owed it all to his morphine drip.
July 10, 2009 6:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
There is no evidence of that at all.
Ashcroft was able to pull himself together enough to tell these thugs that it was his Deputy AG Comey who had authority to make the decision telling them to go screw, and furthermore why in detail the decision Comey had made was exactly the right one anyway. It was a heroic move; if you wanna run the guy down, I'd do it over something else.
July 12, 2009 3:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
It sums up Barack H Obama that he thinks there's nothing to see here.
July 12, 2009 6:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
He got another kind of drip with bush.
July 10, 2009 7:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Brava Mrs. Ashcroft! for not bending to the wishes of the demagogue in the White House. Could Bush sink any lower?
July 10, 2009 7:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Who cares? They will get away with this and all their other crimes! I already knew this! How about the CIA agent outing? The illegal wiretaps? The known lying to start the wars?
What will it take to bring these criminals to justice?
I thought it would be electing Barack Obama President. I donated. I worked. I phoned, I walked. Why are they getting away with this?
Surely Barack is not anticipating doing the same shit -- that is the only justification I can imagine.
Laws have been blatently broken! Why are they not accused (if not behind bars)
Go! Jonathan Turley!
July 10, 2009 8:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry, there is this little technicality, it is called evidence. We all know what happened since it has been splashed all over the news. However, that makes the need for air tight evidence all the more necessary. The Bush cabal was filled with a bunch of sneaky, monstrously illegal misbehaving folks. But proving that charge is entirely different from making the statement about their malfeasance. Just give this DOJ time and if it is at all possible to nail them, it will be done. The tragedy is that there is broad knowledge about the crimes, but knowledge and proof are two different things. In fact, the notoriety of their behavior even makes the court case much more difficult. You have to overwhelm hearsay with airtight evidence.
July 11, 2009 1:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
I agree with everything that you have said. And now, it looks like Barack might also allow the chance for real healthcare reform to slip through his fingers as well. He is beginning to look more and more like a corporatist that wants to be loved by the powerful to the detriment of the people. He wants to deliver for us, but only if it passes muster with the powerful. You can't lead that way and the American people will always come in second place if he doesn't buck these powers soon.
We need to champion Durbin as well. He appears to agree with Turly.
July 12, 2009 4:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm beginning to be hopeful again. After all this time with Obama saying he wants to look forward, (and the evidence mounting up and up and up) finally Holder is beginning to think he should appoint a prosecutor. Think about it. Obama can claim that he was willing to look forward, but finally there was just too much law-breaking to overlook. He removed the "vendetta" accusation from the table. Oh, I know...Republicans will still claim it, but the reality is that Obama can keep his distance from this.
If this is an example of his "chess playing" I am impressed. Of course, who knows if it will really happen. If the same thing happens with health care and we end up with Single-Payer, I think we can all sit back and marvel at this guy. [ With Rahm's and his evil twin, Zeke's take on this, I think it is unlikely, but I can dream, can't I?]
July 12, 2009 6:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
What technicality called evidence?
The Bush Administration officials should be given the same standards that they gave to the "enemy combatants" at Gitmo, Bagram, Diego Garcia, and those other CIA black sites scattered throughout Eastern Europe.
The Bush Administration set the standard for the need for evidence. Let's apply their standards to them.
July 13, 2009 7:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
Because then we would be no better than they are. Restoring 'the rule of law' is the most important job the Obama Justice Department faces.
Of course it would satisfying to see all those criminals treated as they were treated, but it will be more satisfactory to see them brought down by they very system they contemptuously ignored.
July 13, 2009 1:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
That would be nice if there was any progress at all toward getting prosecutions started.
July 13, 2009 4:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
It is curious that huge amounts of evidence are apparently needed to support the idea that Bush played a role in his presidency.
At what point will the obvious hypothesis come into play -- that his role was a leading one? that he knew of, and approved of, everything that was going on?
July 10, 2009 9:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
"It is curious that huge amounts of evidence are apparently needed to support the idea that Bush played a role in his presidency."
Spot on. Isn't it funny that the critics are quick to hold President Obama and President Clinton accountable for everything emanating from their administrations, and even things that to some degree are/were out of their control, but when it comes to Bush they act as if he wasn't in control of the ship. Maybe it's because he was so unintelligent and incompetent that people find it necessary to figure out who was really making the decisions. It's painfully obvious that he is culpable and largely responsible for his administration's transgressions, but I guess "the buck stops here" only applies to Democratic presidents.
July 11, 2009 9:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
Q:Who sent you?
A:We went on behalf of the president.
Gotta love the Schumer vs Gonzo exchange.
Relive the moment :)
July 10, 2009 11:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
That, in itself, does not implicate Bush.
There is a distinct possibility that Gonzo and Card were acting "on behalf of the president" on the orders of someone else - say Cheney, or that they were acting on behalf of the president of something other than the USA.
Now, if he had said: "President Bush sent us.", that would implicate Bush. However, he did not say that and Schumer failed to follow up and get a more specific answer.
July 13, 2009 7:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
So who needs a military coup when we have the CIA, FBI, NSA, etc...
Apparently our free and open society is just a figment of someone's imagination... as is the rule of law, equal justice, checks and balances...
You know, those pesky little rights some misinformed and apparently uneducated folks thought might be nice for a democracy...
We won't even have to bother learning them in a few years... since those now in power have decided to protect the important government leaders from any and all prosecution and/or accountability.
Of course, the TOP SECRET stamp will protect the REAL Axis of Evil... our own leaders...
That's what it's really for, you know... protecting the important people who are destroying this once great nation of ours from the commoners who just might find offense...
July 11, 2009 12:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thank, TPM. I don't always comment but I read you everyday. Your stories and insight are food for the soul.
July 11, 2009 1:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
Never, never held Accountable by our US Senatorial or Congressional Legislatures and their Judicary Committees.
As you may recall the Washington DC Bar Association, Public Relations Magazine has on approximately 10/2007!! voted US AG Gonzales 'Attorney of the Year 2007' and 'US AG Mulkasey 'Attorney of the Year 2008' and with runner up's of Rove or 'Scooter' Libby and other disgraced White House Attorneys.
'Manical, Deranged, Despotic, Corrupt and Dishonest appears to be overwhelmingly correct for at least the recent decade or decades.
Justice delayed is justice denied = proof.
One of the deadliest retaliations towards 'Whistleblowers' is to ignore a 'Whistleblower' or 'truthteller'.
Want more proof and/or allegations thereof? Go to website YOUR-RIGHTS.COM and link to a seemingly worthwhile documentary video entitled 'Bush Linked to Kennedy Assassination'.
July 11, 2009 9:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
WOW!!
I wonder how many more of these choice moments in George W. Bush's profile in courage are laying out there.
A few more of these could knock the scales off the eyes of middle America to reveal what they have had at the helm the last eight years B.O. (Before Obama).
Great Post !!
July 11, 2009 12:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
I seriously need some more caffeine. Upon reading the headline, my first thought was "You'd think the cheap bastard could've sent some flowers with Gonzalez instead of just a get well card."
July 11, 2009 1:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
I always believed more in incompetence than conspiracy as historical forces- Bush's administration seems to challenge any distinction.
July 11, 2009 5:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Didn't Jesus say something about spying being a righteous act? I'm sure right wing pundits can find a biblical passage to make that argument.
Here is a clip of O'Reilly pontificating about religion, and a pretty dead on article.
http://progressnotcongress.org/?p=2120
July 11, 2009 8:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Joshua and Caleb spying in the land of Canaan for the Israelite invasion.
July 13, 2009 8:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
Just another, in a long list, of lies uncovered in the Bush Whitehouse.
July 12, 2009 4:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
"And if it appears that our conduct in some way supported violations of laws of war, then I think that we have to know about that."... Obama remarking on the possibility that hundreds of POWs were killed by one of the military guys we are supporting in Afghanistan...
On the other hand, this same Obama has stated that those who may have tortured (and yes, some died) should not be tried because someone told them to. Apparently, he never studied the My Lai incident.
He DID, however, send that Nazi guard back to be tried for war crimes...
Apparently Obama places politics on a higher plane than the rule of law, and like the other mobsters in Washington... picks and chooses which ones to follow.
July 13, 2009 11:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
On first reading of the headline, I thought, "How nice Bush sent Ashcroft a card while he was in the hospital. I wonder what it says?".
I can only imagine what a greeting card might have said, "Hope you're on the mend. Sign my extension or the CIA will put you back into intensive care."
July 13, 2009 12:26 PM | Reply | Permalink