John Ashcroft - Never Again: Securing America and Restoring Justice

Copyright 2006 by John Ashcroft

All rights reserved.

Center Street

Hachette Book Group USA

237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Visit our Web site at HachetteBookGroupUSA.com.

First eBook Edition: October 2006

ISBN: 978-0-7595-6873-0

This story would have been told by someone else had not the people of Missouri and of America accorded me the profound privilege of public service. I am grateful to them first and to their courageous leader, President George W. Bush, for the incomparable opportunity of protecting lives and liberty in this matchless nation, America.

My service focused on the direction and encouragement of the dedicated, selfless effort of thousands of career and politically appointed members of the Justice community. Daily, they reminded me that the Department of Justice is the only agency of government with a value as its title. Justice is a noble value, the worth of which was compounded by the devotion and dedication of their lives to the securing of the rights and freedoms of humanity.

To all the interviewees who contributed valuable insights and recollections to this work, I give my thanks, especially in light of their compelling schedules. Special thanks to:

FBI Director Robert Mueller

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff

Former Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson

Kris Kobach

Mindy Tucker

David Israelite

U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton

Jerry Jacobs

My wife, Janet, deserves more credit than could be accorded for her patient, valued advice and counsel.

To Rolf Zettersten of the Hachette Book Group, my appreciation for his patience and kind coaching.

To David Ayres, without whom the organization necessary to assemble this effort, and without whom many facts necessary to assure accuracy would not have been ascertainable, I owe the greatest of debt. He has made my public service during the past two decades possible for me, and valuable for America.

The daunting job of evoking and extrapolating the thoughts of this book fell to Ken Abraham, whose experience, persistence, and dedication have made this endeavor a positive experience for all of us.

CRASH IN THE NIGHT

A Nightmare While Awake

I m a country boy at heart. Few activities are more enjoyable to me than getting out in the country, working on a tractor, or fixing up an old shed on the edge of a green pasture. Thats why my wife, Janet, and I hung on to our property near Springfield, Missouri, at the northern base of the Ozark hill country when I was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1994. By 2000, even though we now lived at least half our year in Washington, D.C., I relished every opportunity to spend time at our traditional, two-story, white farmhouse located near a gently rippling river.

Ten miles from town, the serenity of the farm with its bucolic beauty beckoned me away from the stark severity of city life. Something about returning to the farm, a sanctuary amid the hustle and bustle of the workaday world, refreshed me, restored my spirit, and reminded me that life is more than the latest opinion poll or Washington intrigue.

The old farmhouse provided a welcomed respite for me, especially when the weather turned ugly, as it had earlier on this mid-October night. The sturdy construction offered a place of warmth and security, impervious to the pelting rain and the flashing lightning. Eventually, the booming thunderstorm moved off eastward, leaving behind a persistent drizzle and a dense fog that painted a thick gray mist across the hillsides, shrouding the valleys, and casting an eerie pall over the area. I glanced out the window at the soupy sky and shook my head. Im glad Im not traveling in that mess tonight.

I tossed a stack of papers aside and moved to my favorite chair in the TV room, kicked off my shoes, and reached for the remote control. I wasnt really interested in watching any more news coverage, and it was still too early in the year for a basketball game, but it was nice to have a bit of background noise in the house. Janet was in Washington, D.C., attending to her teaching responsibilities at Howard University, so I had returned alone to our Springfield home following a televised Sunday night debate in Kansas City against Mel Carnahan, the governor of Missouri, my opponent in the upcoming election for U.S. senator.

The jangling of the farmhouse phone jolted me out of my silent reflections. I pulled myself out of the chair and ambled over to the telephone. David Ayres, my former Senate office chief of staff and my current campaign manager, was on the line. David had worked with me for years and was one of my most trusted advisers. It was not unusual for him to call me after office hours, but late night calls were rarely ever good, and this call was no exception. I could tell quickly from the tone of Davids voice that this was no ordinary call.

John, theres a problem.

What kind of problem? I asked, still relatively at ease. Problems go with the territory when running for office or serving in office, so I was not surprised or alarmed to learn that another issue had popped up three weeks prior to election day.

I just received a call about a press report that Governor Carnahans plane is missing... apparently, it has disappeared from the radar.

What?

Word is that Carnahan and his campaign aide Chris Sifford were attempting to fly from St. Louis to New Madrid tonight, and the air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane sometime around seven-thirty or eight oclock. Carnahans son, Randy, was flying the plane, and they cant raise him on the radio.

No... I was stunned as the full realization of Davids words began to sink in. You dont mean...

We dont know, David anticipated my question. But the weather here in St. Louis has been awful tonight, and theres fear that the plane may have crashed in the woods south of the city, in Jefferson County. Were checking with local authorities and all the news services right now, but it does not look good. We also need to start thinking about what were going to do if the reports are accurate.

Do? Theres only one thing to do. Pull down the campaign... put everything on hold until we find out whats going on here.

Thats what I thought, too, David concurred. Try to settle yourself. Ill call you back as soon as I hear anything.

I had no sooner hung up the telephone and turned the television to a local station for news when the phone began ringing, one call after another. John? Have you heard? Is it true? Is Carnahan okay? Have they found the plane yet? Is Mel dead or alive?

My mind was racing. How could this be? Just a few weeks ago we had accepted an invitation for a debate to be held on Monday, October 16, in southeast Missouri at Cape Girardeau, but the Carnahan camp had declined the invitation, opting instead for a fund-raiser in St. Louis that day, and then a trip to the boot heel of the state later that evening. Now I couldnt help but wonder how the events of the evening might have been different had we still been on the debate platform in southern Missouri.

Mel Carnahan and I had served together in Missouri politics for a couple of decades. Mel had been the state treasurer during my first term as governor of Missouri, and the lieutenant governor during my second term. Missouris term limits allow for only two consecutive terms of office, so after serving eight years as governor, I stepped aside and planned on retiring from politics.

But when the Missouri seat in the U.S. Senate opened, my friends and family encouraged me to run for office. I won the Senate seat in 1994. Meanwhile, Mel had won the governors job in 1992. He went on to serve two four-year terms as governor, although he quickly let it be known that he wanted a broader sphere of influence. He publicly announced his intention to run for my U.S. Senate seat the day after the 1998 midterm elections, a full two years before he would complete his second term as governor.