Our friends at THE RAW STORY have the scoop, of course!
Is Ashcroft in trouble? It the scandal seeping closer to the President? Stay tuned!!
By Winter Patriot on 8/17/2005, 10:48am PT  

Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

Congressman John Conyers (D-MI) and Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) will be issuing a formal request for an immediate investigation with the US Inspector General's office into John Ashcroft - former US Attorney General, Raw Story has learned.

The request - released to Raw Story - cites conflict of interest on the part of Ashcroft in his failure to promptly recuse himself during the initial investigation into the outing of CIA agent Valerie Wilson. Ashcroft was US Attorney General at the time.

The CIA filed charges with the FBI and Justice after columnist Robert Novak made Wilson's identity public in July of 2003. It has since been learned, as part of a case currently in front of a grand jury, that Karl Rove - Senior Advisor to President Bush, was the source for several reporters on the Wilson story.

Ashcroft was appointed to the AG office on the suggestion of Rove, who was also the political consultant for Ashcroft's 2000 US Senate campaign bid against the late Governor Mel Carnahan (D-Missouri), for which Rove was paid an estimated $750,000 in services.

Conyers, ranking member on the House Committee on the Judiciary, and Hinchey, a member on the House Committee on Appropriations, both request that US Inspector General, Glen A. Fine, also investigate the Justice Department's procedural failures, including failure to preserve documents.

The request is to be filed early this afternoon, but a fully transcribed version - excluding footnotes - is available [now].

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Thanks again, Larisa!!

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