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Glenn,
One thing strikes me as really strange about Comey’s story. He seems to be saying that the events described were put in motion by an internal review that questioned the legality of the program. That is, after others in the department started a review, it became clear to those doing the review (and Comey himself) that the program was illegal as executed. In Comey’s telling of the story, he alerts Ashcroft to the illegality and Ashcroft heroically stands up for the rule of law.
What’s strange to me is that Ashcroft had already signed off on this program many times before he was hospitalized. Are we to believe that Ashcroft really didn’t know the program was illegal? I don’t know anything about his legal background, but it doesn’t look like it takes a legal genius to realize the program was illegal. Glenn, do you think Ashcroft really didn’t know about the illegality of the program until told about it by Comey?
I’m guessing that a more likely scenario is that Ashcroft knew the program was illegal, but signed off on it anyway. However, once someone on the inside called him on it, he professed ignorance. In this case, he was just covering his behind by his actions in the hospital. I think perhaps Comey (who really seems to be sincere, as evidenced by his refusal to sign off on the program) was just being naïve about Ashcroft.
I would like to know whether there really were changes introduced after this incident (or whether they simply told Comey that the changes were put into effect), and if so, whether those changes were reversed upon Gonzales’ taking office.
