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In her first year as Deputy U.S. Attorney General in the Clinton administration, Sept. 11 Commissioner Jamie Gorelick was warned that lax U.S. immigration policies made the U.S. a tempting target for terrorists, former FBI Director Louis Freeh revealed on Monday, suggesting that Gorelick did little to remedy the situation. "Protecting our homeland from attacks by foreign terrorists had long been the FBI's priority," said Freeh, in a lengthy Wall Street Journal op-ed piece. "Back in September 1994, I recommended to Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick that the DoJ strengthen investigative powers against suspected 'undesirable aliens,' accelerating deportation appeal...

According to NBC News Staffer, Bob Kur, reporting on the Ashcroft testimony before the 9/11 Hearings this afternoon, "Ashcroft's" testimony was the workout of a strategy to take the heat off "Bush's" failings. Kur reported that Ascroft tried as hard as he could to cover up the failings of the Bush Administration and to put the blame on the previous administration. No mention was made of Ashcroft's seemingly genuine anger and consternation at the Wall of Separation between FBI and CIA - a wall that Ashcroft noted was re-inforced as late as 1995 under Janet Reno. Kur's report emphasized that...

Gorelick Memo Exposes 'Feckless' Clinton Policy Posted April 13, 2004 By Kenneth R. Timmerman In a dramatic moment of his testimony before the 9/11 commission this afternoon, Attorney General John Ashcroft released a previously classified memo from 1995 that instructed the FBI and U.S. Attorneys around the country to ensure they had "walled off" overseas intelligence information from domestic crime-fighters. The separation between overseas intelligence gathering and domestic criminal prosecution has been widely criticized by both Democrats and Republicans on the committee for having helped make the 9/11 attacks possible. "[T]he simple fact of Sept. 11 is this," Ashcroft testified:...

9/11 Commission. Now on C-Span. Chairman Thomas Kean has asked the audience to refrain from clapping. Louie Freeh, former FBI director, up at 9:30. Business matters being taken care of now by the Commission.

WASHINGTON (AP) - In a veiled swipe at the Clinton administration, Attorney General John Ashcroft testified Tuesday the nation was stunned by the Sept. 11 attacks because "for nearly a decade our government had blinded itself to our enemies." Appearing before a commission investigating the worst attacks in the nation's history, Ashcroft also said he moved quickly once in office to overturn a "failed policy" that he said allowed American agents to capture terrorist leader Osama bin Laden but not assassinate him. In a nationally televised appearance, Ashcroft said the government had become bound up in legal restrictions that grew...

Today, John Ashcroft stood tall, showed the warrior that he is, and did this country a great service by giving the best explanation yet about why the US failed to prevent 9-11. In doing so he cut through all the spin and partisan smoke and got to the real issue. According to Ashcroft, three things contributed: 1. Failure by the Clintonistas to have a clearly articulated plan to kill Bin Laden. Plans that were in place were confusing and amounted to dangerous contingency plans to “capture” him You had to love Ashcroft’s comment, which I paraphrase here as- “They couldn’t...

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.

Editor's note: This is the text of John Ashcroft's opening statement to the 9/11 Commission, delivered on April 13, 2004, as released by the Department of Justice. Thank you. It is with great sorrow that I join this Commission today in reflection on September 11, 2001. Even today, 31 months after the attacks, I struggle to learn the lessons of that day without being overwhelmed by the losses of that day. I feel sorrow for the loss of life, sorrow for the loss of promise, sorrow for the lost innocence of a nation forever scarred. My sorrow for the victims...

Graphics of the Gorelick memo

Ashcroft denied anti-terror funds on Sept. 10 Attorney general to testify today in front of 9/11 commission CURT ANDERSON ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON - The day before the Sept. 11 attacks, Attorney General John Ashcroft rejected an FBI appeal for an extra infusion of money for counterterrorism, according to a Sept. 11 commission staff statement released today. The statement, issued as the independent panel's spotlight turned to the FBI and Justice Department, said Ashcroft on Sept. 10, 2001, rejected a request made earlier by acting FBI Director Thomas Pickard for "further counterterrorism enhancements" in the 2002 budget, which already would have...

By Alan Elsner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Justice Department under Attorney General John Ashcroft failed in 2001 to treat counterterrorism as a top priority, the commission on the Sept. 11 attacks said on Tuesday, in its latest report detailing security breakdowns throughout the government. The commission staff statement was issued before the start of two days of hearings on the failure of the FBI and other agencies to prevent the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington that killed around 3,000 people. It focused on a May 10 Justice Department document that set out priorities for that year. The top...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Despite increasing concern about terrorist threats to the United States, the FBI before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks was hampered by a culture resistant to change, inadequate resources and legal barriers, the national commission investigating the attacks said on Tuesday. "From the first World Trade Center attack in 1993, FBI and Department of Justice leadership in Washington and New York became increasingly concerned about the terrorist threat from Islamic extremists to U.S. interests both at home and abroad," said the report, presented at a commission hearing. Attorney General John Ashcroft, his predecessor, Janet Reno, former FBI Director...

Republican staffers on the 9-11 Commission are looking for a way to place commission member Jamie Gorelick before the body she sits on to explain the Clinton Justice Department's seeming lack of interest in counter-terrorism activities. According to a Republican commission staffer, some are outraged at the continued leaks by Democrats on the commission, which are being coordinated to embarrass upcoming members of the Bush Administration set to testify before the commission. The latest example was a memo from the spring of 2001 issued by the Department of Justice, with newly confirmed Attorney General John Ashcroft signing off on it....