by TChris

Attorney General John Ashcroft seized the opportunity afforded by 9/11 to launch an assault on the Constitution and on legislation designed to hold the power of law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies in check. But what did Ashcroft do about the threat of terrorism before 9/11? Not much, according to sources who have seen draft reports by the 9/11 commission.

TalkLeft has called attention to documents indicating that Ashcroft de-emphasized terrorism and to reports that he may have actually hindered counterterrorism efforts. It appears that the draft reports of the 9/11 commission confirm that view.

They said the draft reports, which are expected to be completed and made public during two days of hearings by the commission this week, show that F.B.I. officials were alarmed throughout 2001 by what they perceived as Mr. Ashcroft's lack of interest in terrorism issues and his decision in August 2001 to reject the bureau's request for a large expansion of its counterterrorism programs.

The draft reports, they said, quote the F.B.I.'s former counterterrorism chief, Dale Watson, as saying he "fell off my chair" when he learned that Mr. Ashcroft had failed to list combating terrorism as one of the department's priorities in a March 2001 department-wide memo.

The Justice Department has launched an aggressive campaign to persuade the commission to rewrite sections of the report that are unflattering to Ashcroft. Whether or not that happens, word is out about Ashcroft's inattentiveness, and his defense (amounting to "nobody ever told me that terrorism might be a domestic problem") will be a hard sell when he testifies before the commission.