It Was Just Despicable

Sixteenth of 25 excerpts from The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals by Jane Mayer:

The next night, March 10, hours before the TSP [Terrorist Surveillance Program] was set to lapse, Comey was on his way home when he received a frantic call from Ashcroft's wife. She had forbidden visitors to see her husband because he was so ill. But President Bush himself had called her at the hospital to say that Gonzalez and White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card were coming over. Comey suspected that the White House team was trying to subvert the law by strong-arming Ashcroft, in his enfeebled state, into renewing the TSP. . . .

Gonzalez did not engage in small talk. He quickly pulled out the draft order and asked Ashcroft to sign it. Ashcroft lifted his head off the pillows and delivered a strong denunciation of the TSP's legal framework. Then, spent, he sank back into the pillows . . .

Defeated, Gonzalez and Card got up to go. "Be well," is all Card said on the way out. As they left, according to Goldsmith, Mrs. Ashcroft stuck out her tongue at them.

"It was just despicable," said one of Ashcroft's top aides. "I thought I had just witnessed an effort to take advantage of a very sick man," said Comey.

Copyright 2008 by Jane Mayer. All Rights Reserved