[Boundless]

I read Ascroft's opening statement (not posted above)
today, after I got curious about what the early Bush
Admin might have known about the "wall", and what they
might have done about it.

Ashcroft was sworn in in Feb 2001, and it sounds like he
was aware of the wall (and as a problem) by mid-March.
Was he (or Bush) really unable to do anything about it
until the Patriot Act?

If the wall resulted from a mere memorandum, it seems like
another memo, or more forcefully, an Executive Order, could
have negated it.

[maestro]

..... If the 'wall' resulted from a mere memorandum, it seems like another memo, or more forcefully, an Executive Order, could have negated it.

BINGO!

[Darnright]

>If the wall resulted from a mere memorandum, it seems like
another memo, or more forcefully, an Executive Order, could
have negated it.<

Possibly. However, by going through the Legislative branch of government, Bush alerted Congress to the importance of getting our intelligence capabilities back on line. Had Bush used an Executive order, could the Democrats not have used it as a very large weapon against the President's goals to protect the nation?