Gorelick Licked

The American Spectator ^ | 4.14.04 | Wlady Pleszczynski

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Gorelick Licked

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Published 4/14/2004 12:05:12 AM

His testimony is likely to be overshadowed by the president's news conference, but Attorney General John Ashcroft served notice yesterday that he is one administration player not afraid at all to go on offense against the Democratic louts on the so-called 9/11 commission. The full effect of the bombshell he dropped yesterday afternoon will take some time to settle. "The single greatest structural cause for September 11 was the wall that segregated criminal investigators and intelligence agents," he said in his stirring and air-clearing opening remarks. "Government erected this wall. Government buttressed this wall. And before September 11, government was blinded by this wall." Who built and reinforced this wall? Ashcroft pointed to Justice Department guidelines from 1995 that "imposed draconian barriers to communications between law enforcement and intelligence communities." It was a system "destined to fail." He pointed to investigations impeded by these rules, including efforts that might have nabbed three of the 9/11 conspirators weeks if not days before the attacks. Then he got to his real point. The commission itself may not have known of the 1995 memorandum that laid out these guidelines -- "so I have declassified it for you and the public to review," Ashcroft told the commission. Next, the dagger: "Full disclosure compels me to inform you that its author is a member of this Commission." Ashcroft did not need to name names for all to know that he had just outed Jamie Gorelick, the long-time number two in the Clinton Justice Department and one of the most transparently partisan Democrats on the 9/11 commission. Not only did Ashcroft add to the growing pressure on Gorelick to testify before the commission rather than serve on it, specifically about what she and the administration she served failed to do about terrorism. Above all, he discredited her in the eyes of her fellow commissioners. Clearly she had never informed them of this memorandum. Now they were caught by surprise and made to look foolish. One could detect the power of Ashcroft's bombshell in the subsequent questioning. Richard Ben-Veniste's edge turned to smarm. He greeted the two surprise guests who had accompanied Ashcroft to the hearing, his respected former deputy Larry Thompson and Solicitor General Ted Olson. Ben-Veniste referred to him as "Mr. Olson," and offered renewed condolences on the death of Barbara Olson on 9/11. With Olson on Ashcroft's side, there was no way he could look bad. Ben-Veniste's only pointed question proved an embarrassment, repeating as it did morning press stories fed by Democrat leaks to the effect that Ashcroft would be asked about why he had started flying in government planes and not commercially before 9/11. When Ashcroft replied that all his personal flying had continued to be done commercially, as was his wife's, Ben-Veniste was left red-faced, grasping at a dwindling number of straws. But he couldn't have been more red-faced than Gorelick. Initially she tried mouthing denials to fellow commissioners that she was author of the memo. But when a copy was handed to her, listing her as initialed author, she had nowhere to hide. Her round of questions came last. Unlike Bob Kerrey, say, who was cordial with Ashcroft and even said it was good to see the AG "on the mend" after his recent hospitalization and operation, Gorelick established no human contact during her half-hearted queries -- none of which engaged the central point of Ashcroft's opening statement. The Democrats wanted to play hardball, but ended up clubbed on the head themselves. Wlady Pleszczynski is executive editor of The American Spectator and editor of its website.

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[oceanview]

good post. I was not plugged into today's testimony, did this get any media coverage at all?

[jwalsh07]

The hole card Woody, the hole card.

[Spotsy]

Did the Jersey Girls boycott Ashcroft's testimony? I noticed the room was a lot less crowded all day.

[Sister_T]

B A M !

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

Ashcroft was awesome today it would seem. I guess he was destined for this job.

[hope]

I only watch Fox...It was not talked about in any detail form.

[mfulstone]

Get out yer tinfoil hats - I just thank up a thunk!

The Gorelick rules were meant to ensure that "no 'proactive' investigative efforts or technical coverages" of terrorist suspects be carried out on U.S. soil.

The Murrah Bldg in OK city was blown up on April 19, 1995.

Exactly what date in 1995 was that Gorelick memo published?

[HarryCaul]

I'd wondered why in the world she'd been allowed to serve on this commission.

Now I know.

Points to the Pubs for some brilliant politics. Nice setup and smash, well done.

[LiteKeeper]

SPOTREP - Hooah!

[Lancey Howard]

This needs to be bumped for a week.
Great, great post.

[KellyAdmirer]

Gorelick has a clear conflict of interest here. She should either resign from the commission and arrange to testify before, it or be thrown off and subpoenaed to testify (I assume these guys have subpoena power).

[Lancey Howard]

bump

[hope]

It's not difficult to imagine a number of reasons why Hillary's butt girl would need to create such a wall.

[Petronski]

I was in the car when I heard this and all I could say was 'Just damn!' Ashcroft brought his own MOAB!

[Lancey Howard]

Why do I get the feeling that the Republicans have been sandbagging? Every time I get down in the dumps and feel like the Republicans are letting the scumbag Democrats slap them around, they come up with a bombshell like this. Great stuff.

[Auntie Mame]

Exactly what date in 1995 was that Gorelick memo published?

Curiously, there is no date on the memo.

[piasa]

fyi

[Freedom4US]

Yes, it was carried live by all the major networks. Attorney Gen. Ashcroft is straight out of central casting, and EXACTLY the right guy for these times.

My spidey sense immediately started tingling when Gorelick started badgering witnesses from day one. I wondered where do they get these people, and why are they in charge of _anything_, much less matters of national import? I *knew* she was bad news, and today I found out exactly why.

[Waco]

The libs are as anti-America as they come. IF, they could claim mere stupidity as an excuse for their shameful performances,,,,,,then they should be jailed or hung for being such stupid assholes.

[Torie]

The Dems thought that Ashcroft would be road kill in this hearing. At least that is what I sensed. They apparently were wrong.

[FreedomPoster]

Let's put a link to the declassified Gorelick Memo thread, in this thread:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1116962/posts

[Petronski]

The Murrah Bldg in OK city was blown up on April 19, 1995. Exactly what date in 1995 was that Gorelick memo published?

The Memo itself is undated. I too want to know: just when WAS it promulgated?

[yhwhsman]

Then he got to his real point. The commission itself may not have known of the 1995 memorandum that laid out these guidelines -- "so I have declassified it for you and the public to review," Ashcroft told the commission. Next, the dagger: "Full disclosure compels me to inform you that its author is a member of this Commission."

ROFLMBOFFLM

Is that what you call a byotch slap?

[Danette]

I didn't hear anything about it while switching between CBS and ABC nightly news.....or on Nightline.

Bias media.

[GeronL]

Ben-Veniste referred to him as "Mr. Olson," and offered renewed condolences on the death of Barbara Olson on 9/11. With Olson on Ashcroft's side, there was no way he could look bad

Remember BKO!! Kill terrorists!!

[arjay]

I thought Brit Hume hit Gorelick pretty hard. His guest political commentator, whose name I cannot recall, really slammed the commission as a partisan attack machine.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Ashcroft has been overshadowed a bit by Rumsfeld, but he is a Strong performer and doing a great and super important job!

To hear of his performance is truly heartwarming!

I saw a bit of Reno's performance....YUKE!

[expatguy]

I there anywhere I can see this now? Download it?

[ALOHA RONNIE]

.

NEVER FORGET that NOTHING happened in the CLINTON White House without HILLARY CLINTON knowing about it.

"Whenever BILL CLINTON was away or out of town, HILLARY sat in the Oval Office" =

...Author Chris Andersen in his book 'BILL & HILLARY: The Marriage'..

Ours is to only ask...

........"WHAT FOR..?"

.

[GeronL]

Rope-a-Dope

[Howlin]

Kean ordered NO CLAPPING so they left.

Look for the thread just put up about the 9-11 Widows!

[Utah Girl]

Gorelick tried to deny she was the author of the memo??? How stupid can one get...

[Howlin]

C-SPAN is rerunning the hearing right now; it's almost at the end of Pickard and Black, so Ashcroft is up next.

It's right at the very beginning. Do NOT miss it.

KABOOM!!!!

[Texasforever]

Democrats have a large character flaw. They create personas for other people and then come to believe that creation when dealing with them. They have created the "Bush is stupid" persona and then approach him as they would a stupid person. They then wonder why he outsmarts them. They did the same with Ashcroft and he handed them their heads. They never learn.

[Howlin]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1116962/posts

[GeronL]

AT some points Janet Reno forgot to keep lying, some of the Democrats were really confused.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

Another thread has the memo images but I can't find a date on them anywhere other than the declassification date, April of this year.

Thanks for keeping me awake long enough to make it to NYPD tonight.LOL

[FlyVet]

Next, the dagger: "Full disclosure compels me to inform you that its author is a member of this Commission."

It's too bad Gore Lick wasn't the one questioning Ashcroft, and I wonder if there was a reason for that. Gore Lick, being a Clintonite, has no shame, otherwise she would have recused herself from the commission. The fox has been appointed to investigate the chicken coop. Clinton scums. The legacy never ends.

[PGalt]

This needs to be bumped for a week. Great, great post.

Way to go Mr. Ashcroft!

[hope]

I missed most of that....should have known that's where it would get the discussion.

[Smartass]

Link to Gorlick's Memo

Adobe Acrobat Raader Required

[hope]

I missed most of that....should have known that's where it would get the discussion.

[Smartass]

Sorry about the typo.

Link to Gorlick's Memo

Adobe Acrobat Reader Required

[Prime Choice]

OutSTANDING! Thanks for the post! Just made my day! : )

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

I dropped the bomb on my cable access when the 2 year old started arguing with the 5 year old about what would be on the TV.

Now it's baseball season and my baseball team has 95% of their games on TV and only about 6 are on broadcast TV.


AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!

[LdSentinal]

The Democrats got snookered again by Ashcroft.

Remember back in December, 2001? The Democrats called a commission to criticize the president's handling od detainees at Guantanomo Bay. They're were amazed that the president's approval ratings were still in the 80s.

So, Edwards, Schumer, and Leahy call on Ashcroft to testify before the commission.

Before answering any questions, Ashcroft read out loud to them the Al-Queda training manual. Then on, Ashcroft handed Schumer, Edwards, and Leahy back their asses during the questioning.

And coincidentally enough, after his testimony, Republicans overtook the Democrats in polling for the Congress.

[arjay]

I just remembered that the guest was Larry Sabato (I think). He was contemptuous of the commission.

[swheats]

I could read this one over and over and over again. Thanks for posting.