By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
John Ashcroft, who served as President George W. Bush's attorney general during pivotal years in the war on terror, said sloppy leaks about the Boston Marathon bombings make it harder for investigators to do their job and retain the public's trust.
It's not always easy to tell who's coming or going as the Obama administration starts its second term, but multiple agencies have quietly commissioned artists to paint official portraits of Cabinet secretaries and other top appointees — an expenditure often seen when officials are on the way out the door or already gone.
The Defense of Marriage Act is set for a showdown in a federal appeals court later this month between those who say it is right for the government to speak of marriage only in heterosexual terms and those who say doing so discriminates against same-sex unions.
In her letter "Cost a barrier to contraceptives' effectiveness" (Monday), Cory L. Richards, executive vice president of the Guttmacher Institute, asserted that President Obama's mandate that women be given free contraception, including emergency contraception, "has nothing to do with funding abortion." This is incorrect because oral and implanted contraceptives may function to prevent the implementation of a new human being in the uterus, thereby killing him.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out damage claims against former Attorney General John Ashcroft over an American Muslim's arrest, but four justices said the case raises serious questions about post-9/11 detentions under a federal law intended to make sure witnesses testify.
Former Attorney General John Ashcroft cannot be sued over his role in the post-September 11 arrest by federal agents at Dulles International Airport of an American Muslim who was listed as a terrorism witness but was never charged with a crime, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
The commander of the new U.S. Cyber Command told Congress on Wednesday that threats of cyberwar continue to grow.
John Ashcroft approved a policy that led to the arrests of Abdullah al-Kidd and dozens of others without evidence of crimes. Now the Supreme Court will decide whether al-Kidd can try, through a civil lawsuit, to prove that Ashcroft should be held personally responsible for his arrest.
A suspected al Qaeda operative who lived for more than 15 years in the U.S. has become chief of the terror network's global operations, the FBI says, marking the first time a leader so intimately familiar with American society has been placed in charge of planning attacks.
A suspected al Qaeda operative who lived for more than 15 years in the U.S. has become chief of the terror network's global operations, the FBI says, marking the first time a leader so intimately familiar with American society has been placed in charge of planning attacks.
Giuliani's plea
MIAMI — A trio of South Florida terror suspects supported radical Muslim groups that killed and maimed presumed enemies of Islam in places such as Bosnia, Somalia and the Russian breakaway province Chechnya, federal prosecutors said yesterday in closing arguments to the months-long trial.
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales must quickly clarify apparent contradictions in his testimony about surveillance laws or risk a possible perjury investigation or a special prosecutor, said the top Democrat and top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales must quickly clarify apparent contradictions in his testimony about surveillance laws or risk a possible perjury investigation or a special prosecutor, said the top Democrat and top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Democratic and Republican senators yesterday accused Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales of deceiving them about a top-secret domestic surveillance program and other matters, and told him that a trail of obfuscation and misleading answers has destroyed all trust in his leadership.
"What is stunning about what has happened so far, is some of the leaks appear to have been erroneous," Mr. Ashcroft told MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "This really complicates things."
Ex-Attorney General John Ashcroft: Sloppy rush for info on bombing 'really complicates things' →
John Ashcroft, who served as President George W. Bush's attorney general during pivotal years in the war on terror, said sloppy leaks about the Boston Marathon bombings make it harder for investigators to do their job and retain the public's trust.
Ex-Attorney General John Ashcroft: Sloppy rush for info on bombing 'really complicates things' →
