Judge weighs Ashcroft charge

http://www.detnews.com/2003/metro/0310/03/d01-287752.htm

Excerpt:
A federal judge will soon decide whether to order U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to face criminal contempt charges for allegedly violating a gag order in the Detroit terror case.

Lawyers for three men charged with providing material support to terrorists asked U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen to hold Ashcroft in contempt after he publicly praised a government informant, Youssef Hmimssa.

"His testimony has been of value, of substantial value," Ashcroft said at an April 17 speech in Washington. "Such cooperation is a critical tool for our war on terrorism."

If Ashcroft were held in contempt, he would be only the second U.S. attorney general in history to be cited by a judge.

A decision to order Ashcroft to appear in Detroit to face contempt charges would fuel a legal drama that would be fodder for Democratic critics and spark intense media coverage, legal experts said.

It could result in the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate and seek Justice Department documents such as the e-mails of officials who worked on Ashcroft's April 17 speech. The special prosecutor might interview potential witnesses, including a federal appeals court judge, experts said.

"It would be a circus. But we've had circuses before," said Richard Friedman, a law professor at the University of Michigan.

After a month of legal wrangling, a decision appears near.

My guess is John Mitchell from the Nixxon administration.

Like icing on the cake. I sure hope so!

make him sit in a corner, and write 5000 times: 'I am not above the law...'

Coral the wagons DUrs!!!