The FBI Director's Notes
Conyers Announces Further Investigation of Warrantless SurveillanceReleases Notes from FBI Director Concerning Ashcroft Hospital Incident
The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Robert Mueller, has provided the House Judiciary Committee with notes requested by the Committee that he took recounting the circumstances surrounding the dramatic White House efforts to push then-Attorney General John Ashcroft to recertify a warrantless surveillance program that had already been rejected by the Justice Department.
"Director Mueller's notes and recollections concerning the White House visit to the Attorney General's hospital bed confirm an attempt to goad a sick and heavily medicated Ashcroft to approve the warrantless surveillance program," said Conyers. "Particularly disconcerting is the new revelation that the White House sought Mr. Ashcroft's authorization for the surveillance program, yet refused to let him seek the advice he needed on the program.
"Unfortunately, this heavily redacted document raises far more questions than it answers. We intend to fully investigate this incident and the underlying subject matter that evoked such widespread distress within the Department and the FBI. We will be seeking an unredacted copy of Director Mueller's notes covering meetings before and after the hospital visit and expect to receive information from several of the individuals mentioned in the document."
Director Mueller stated in testimony before the House Judiciary Committee that he recorded these notes because of the extraordinary nature of this encounter. The notes confirm the Congressional testimony about the hospital incident by former Deputy Attorney General, James Comey, who also explained that many DoJ leadership officials were prepared to resign over the matters discussed in the hospital incident.
Read Director Mueller's full letter and notes (pdf). An excerpt:
From the July 26th hearing, watch Rep. Artur Davis question Mueller about the notes:
| Rep. Davis: "Did you make any notes regarding your conversation with Mr. Ashcroft?" Director Mueller: "Yes." Rep. Davis: "Do you still have those notes in your possession?" Director Mueller: "Yes, I do." Rep. Davis: "Can you think of any reason why those notes should not be disclosed to the Committee?" Director Mueller: "Same response ["deliberative"] I gave before in response to your earlier question." Rep. Davis: "Now... tell me why you decided to make notes of your conversation with Mr. Ashcroft." Director Mueller: "It was out of the ordinary." |
UPDATE: Rep. Davis comments:
"Director Mueller's notes leave an unmistakable impression of a White House determined to do an end-around the constitution," said Rep. Artur Davis. "In addition, while too much of Director Mueller's submission to the committee is still incomplete, what he provides us and what he testified to before the committee is at odds with the benign description the Attorney General provided under oath. The committee continues to be interested in the critical question of whether Alberto Gonzales was truthful rather than misleading when he testified to the House and Senate."