What did John Ashcroft really know about the warrantless surveillance program?
According to FBI Director Robert Mueller’s notes on the March 10, 2004 visit to Ashcroft’s hospital room, Ashcroft told Andrew Card and Alberto Gonzales that “strict compartmentalization rules” by the White House prevented him from “obtaining the advice he needed” about the warrantless surveillance program. At first glance, I thought that meant that Ashcroft himself was prevented from knowing certain aspects of the program. Several commenters read it differently, and judged that Ashcroft was complaining that his key advisers were barred from information about the program that would inform Ashcroft about its legality. And today, the Washington Post backs them up, citing anonymous official sources.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=180125