Ashcroft nails Clintonite in setting blame for 9-11

World Net Daily ^ | 4/14/04 | WND

[NotchJohnson]

9-11 Commission member Jamie Gorelick wrote a 1995 memo that established a "wall" between the criminal and intelligence divisions, hindering the ability of the U.S. government to detect the Sept. 11, 2001, plot, according to testimony today by Attorney General John Ashcroft. The document by Gorelick [pdf file], who served as deputy attorney general under President Clinton, helped establish the "single greatest structural cause" for Sept. 11, which was "the wall that segregated criminal investigators and intelligence agents," Ashcroft said in his prepared statement

Gorelick was a Democratic appointee to the commission probing how the government handled the threat to terrorism leading to the 9-11 attacks.

"Government erected this wall," Ashcroft said. "Government buttressed this wall. And before September 11, government was blinded by this wall."

The attorney general, who declassified the document for the commission, said he believed panel members were not aware of it, even though it was written by one of their own.

"Although you understand the debilitating impact of the wall, I cannot imagine that the commission knew about this memorandum, so I have declassified it for you and the public to review," he said. "Full disclosure compels me to inform you that its author is a member of this commission."

The memo, entitled "Instructions on Separation of Certain Foreign Counterintelligence and Criminal Investigations," contained orders to FBI Director Louis Freeh and others.

It said: "We believe that it is prudent to establish a set of instructions that will more clearly separate the counterintelligence investigation from the more limited, but continued, criminal investigations. These procedures, which go beyond what is legally required, will prevent any risk of creating an unwarranted appearance that FISA is being used to avoid procedural safeguards which would apply in a criminal investigation."

Ashcroft said that by 2000, "the Justice Department was so addicted to the wall, it actually opposed legislation to lower the wall. Finally, the USA Patriot Act tore down this wall between our intelligence and law enforcement personnel in 2001. And when the Patriot Act was challenged, the FISA Court of Review upheld the law, ruling that the 1995 guidelines were required by neither the Constitution nor the law."

Ashcroft insisted that had he known a terrorist attack was imminent in 2001, he would have "unloaded our full arsenal of weaponry against it – despite the inevitable criticism."

"But the simple fact of September 11 is this: We did not know an attack was coming because for nearly a decade our government had blinded itself to its enemies."

Ashcroft said U.S. agents "were isolated by government-imposed walls, handcuffed by government-imposed restrictions, and starved for basic information technology. The old national intelligence system in place on September 11 was destined to fail."

Legal group wants Gorelick to step down

The Landmark Legal Foundation, a national public interest law firm, has formally requested that Gorelick step down from the commission because she is "hopelessly conflicted" in her role as a member.

The group, headed by Mark Levin, contends there are "numerous issues about which she has knowledge" resulting from her service as deputy attorney general from 1994 to 1997.

As the second most powerful Justice official, Landmark notes, Gorelick oversaw the management, budget and policy objectives of the department, including the FBI, which are a key focus of the commission.

Gorelick recused herself from testimony today by former FBI Director Louis Freeh, but Landmark said this is no substitute for her testimony.

"Moreover, as a commission member," the group said, "Ms. Gorelick will have input into the commission's findings, including those related to areas involving her past role. If Ms. Gorelick does not immediately step aside, many in the public will undoubtedly conclude that the commission's work has been compromised."

As an example, Landmark quotes former Chief Assistant United States Attorney Andrew C. McCarthy, who said Gorelick was "an architect of the government's self-imposed procedural wall, intentionally erected to prevent intelligence agents from pooling information with their law-enforcement counterparts."

McCarthy stated in a National Review column Gorelick was "committed to the bitter end to the law enforcement mindset" of addressing terrorism.

Writing in National Review Online, Ethan Wallison, notes during questioning of National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Gorelick pointed to a report from 2001 that indicated, in her own words, that "we have big systemic problems. The FBI doesn't work the way it should, and it doesn't communicate with the intelligence community."

In the ensuing dialogue, however, Rice apparently implicated Gorelick in the allegation.

Gorelick: Now, you have said that your policy review was meant to be comprehensive. You took your time because you wanted to get at the hard issues and have a hard-hitting, comprehensive policy. And yet there is nothing in [the policy review] about the vast domestic landscape that we were all warned needed so much attention. Can you give me the answer to the question why? Rice: I would ask the following. We were there for 233 days. There had been a recognition for a number of years before – after the '93 [World Trade Center] bombing, and certainly after the [thwarted] millennium [attack in Los Angeles] – that there were challenges inside the United States, and that there were challenges concerning our domestic agencies and the challenges concerning the FBI and the CIA. We were in office 233 days. It's absolutely the case that we did not begin structural reform at the FBI.

[NotchJohnson]

Jamie Gorelick is the problem and she sits back and asks the questions. What does she do now, besides the comission?

[Diogenesis]

Ultracorrupt Democrat Gorelick obstructing the 911 Commission:
"We Democrats own the Commission.
We Democrats own the schools and universities and the unions.
We Democrats own the media.
We Democrats even control the vote of the dead.
You bet that I personally dared refuse repeat DOJ requests for investigations of dangerous illegal aliens.
and I even personally arranged to stovepipe intelligence to make intraagency effective communication useless.
I even arranged for the illegal aliens who were felons to be voters for our Democratic party.
Ha. We even have John Aschroft's and each and every RINO's FBI file on our home and DNC computers.
So what are you wusses dare gonna do about it? Nothing. Now sit down "

[mewzilla]

You know what no-one's asking: Why she did it? Why she enacted a provision that could only benefit the BAD GUYS. Inquiring minds want to know why...

[NotchJohnson]

Because she hates America's power in the world, my guess. Yeah, it sucks when the people at the top do evrything they can to weaken the company.

[Diogenesis]

That is because her law firm defends the terrorists and their friends.

[cloud8]

Clearly a conflict of interest and Gorelick should step down immediately so the rest of the commission can question her. She's a lawyer.

[mewzilla]

Well, call me covered in tinfoil, but after reading Miniter's book I've come to the conclusion that the only thing the Toon admin was good at was doing things that benefitted/enabled/protected terrorists. I mean they were really, REALLY good at that. So much so that I don't think it can be blamed on a screwy political philosophy, national self-loathing, and/or incompetence.

[wayoverontheright]

This had to happen. They sit there and smugly try to pin blame, demonize the Bush team, while lobbing softballs at Clintonites. Ashcroft had seen enough, and decided to play hardball. Note that only in opening statements can the Bush team score any points in their defense.

[SiliconValleyGuy]

Ashcroft was a breath of fresh air. How the hell did he get involved in politics, where fresh air is extinct?

He even outshined Condi with his candor.

[wayoverontheright]

You know what no-one's asking: Why she did it? Why she enacted a provision that could only benefit the BAD GUYS. Inquiring minds want to know why...

Its origins seem to be grounded in pure PC, unadulterated compassion for criminals, especially those who want to harm America.

[mewzilla]

That's what I thought at first. Not any longer.

[wayoverontheright]

Then why do you think the "wall" was put up?

[angkor]

They let Reno off the hook from the get-go.

She used the obviously calculated ruse that she didn't know which answers she might give, may or may not be classified. She asked for "guidance."

That put an immediate halt to any questions of substance. The rest was an unctuous appeal to "trust" "working together" "cooperation" "nonpartisan" and other canned Reno-ish feel-goodisms.

[17th Miss Regt]

If I recall correctly, he was to be a senator until the Democrats elected a corpse (candidate killed in plane crash) and appointed the corpse's wife to be the senator. So Ashcroft was appointed AG and has served in that capacity since.

[Cboldt]

You know what no-one's asking: Why she did it?

The short answer is the memo was written to reduce the chance that evidence would be obtained in a way that rendered it (the evidence) inadmissible in court. Some intelligence is gathered using techniques that render the evidence inadmissible. We do that, it's is prudent to do that, and sometimes we act on information that would be inadmissible in court.

Her memo lays out its justification in basic terms, on page 2. I'm not defending "the wall," or Goreleick's accepting of a position on the Commission, but the reason is not nefarious as much as it was self-serving (to her career as a court-driven law enforcement person vs. a career in prevention instead of conviction), and as parenthetically stated, stupid because it did not focus on prevention, but rather on conviction -AFTER- an illegal act was committed.

[Imagine]

Because DemocRATS are also terrorists against America, they, however, are also cowards. They do just about everything they can to destroy America, except plant bombs themselves. And, of course, you'll never see a democRAT strap on a suicide bomb belt. It's that simple.

[Dr. Scarpetta]

I'm surprised that Goreleick accepted a position on this commission, knowing that this memo could leak out.

[Imagine]

Janet Reno: The classic example of the appointment of incompetent people once they accend to high places (i.e. Clinton and the presidency.) Doesn't it just make you puke?

[Semi Civil Servant]

Ashcroft's in your face memo release directed at Gorelick is the kind of thing Republicans need to learn how to do. Maybe they did a spine reinforcement when they took out Ashcroft's gallbladder? Or maybe he's just reached his limit with these creeps.

[jslade]

Janet Reno: The classic example of the appointment of incompetent people once they accend to high places (i.e. Clinton and the presidency.) Doesn't it just make you puke?

We here in Florida know the real reason why Reno was appointed by The Rapist in Chief. It's well known that she is a notorious bull dyke in south Florida. The sink emperor had the goods on her. She was their for one reason. To cover his sorry ass.