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"...even the wicked get worse than they deserve." - Willa Cather, One of Ours

Wednesday, April 14, 2004

Wall of Separation

CBS
Text of the testimony of John Ashcroft to the 9/11 Commission

...But somebody did make these rules. Someone built this wall.

The basic architecture for the wall in the 1995 Guidelines was contained in a classified memorandum entitled "Instructions on Separation of Certain Foreign Counterintelligence and Criminal Investigations." The memorandum ordered FBI Director Louis Freeh and others, quote: "We believe that it is prudent to establish a set of instructions that will more clearly separate the counterintelligence investigation from the more limited, but continued, criminal investigations. These procedures, which go beyond what is legally required, will prevent any risk of creating an unwarranted appearance that FISA is being used to avoid procedural safeguards which would apply in a criminal investigation."

This memorandum established a wall separating the criminal and intelligence investigations following the 1993 World Trade Center attack, the largest international terrorism attack on American soil prior to September 11. Although you understand the debilitating impact of the wall, I cannot imagine that the Commission knew about this memorandum, so I have declassified it for you and the public to review. Full disclosure compels me to inform you that its author is a member of this Commission...
How did an A-#1 fool like Ashcroft come up with this brutal zinger. It must have been someone on his staff.

But it does raise a significant question about the conflict of interest of former Deputy Attorney General Gorelick. Since the "Wall of Separation" is such a big issue for this investigation, how did the author of this policy wind up on the 9/11 commission?

The calls from conservatives for her outright resignation are a bit excessive. But she should recuse herself from all further deliberations on this particular matter.


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