Why was Ashcroft Fired?

THE JAMES COMEY DRAMA. Today, liberal bloggers (here and here) and journalists are focused on former Deputy Attorney General James Comey's testimony about the hospital drama in 2004 where a very sick John Ashcroft refused to override Department of Justice lawyers and give approval to President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program.

Not that Bush cared about Ashcroft's opinion. He was going to adapt the program over Ashcroft's nearly dead body. However, Bush did eventually back off when Comey and other DOJ lawyers drew up letters of recommendation in protest.

THE REPUBLICAN RESISTANCE. One of the great, relatively untold, stories of the last five years has been the resistance of Republican bureaucrats to the reckless and lawless policies of the Bush administration. For the last five years, federal prosecutors, State Department officials, national security apparatchiks like Richard Clarke, intelligence analysts at the CIA, General Shalikashvili, mid-level bureaucrats, and retired generals have all provided an important first line of defense against Bush administration abuses. Despite long-standing partisan loyalties to the Republican Party, these men and women testified truthfully to Congress when they knew the truth could cost them their careers, pursued corruption investigations, leaked out important information that the Bush administration was either ignoring or covering up, spoke to the media, and wrote important books. They put their country over their self-interest, their loyalty to the Republican Party, and their loyalty to conservativism and provided important service to the country at a crucial time.

James Comey was as loyal a Republican as you can get. According to Sidney Blumenthal, Comey's

adherence to the principles of the Federalist Society lent him an imprimatur as a reliable conservative. He served as counsel to the House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment of President Clinton. His partisanship was considered so solid that he was named head of the Bush transition team for the Justice Department.

Yet, Comey did not seem to hesitate when he threatened to resign over Bush administration's initial warrantless wiretapping proposals. That took a lot of guts and a lot of character. Comey did another service by testifying about the whole episode.

Like other bureaucrats involved in the Republican resistance to the Bush administration, however, Comey probably won't get the credit he deserves.

ASHCROFT'S FIRING. John Ashcroft deserves praise as well. In fact, one has to wonder if Ashcroft wasn't fired after the 2004 election because of his refusal to sign off on the illegal wiretapping program. One of the worst things that can be said about the Bush administration is that it seems like willingness, indeed eagerness, to break the law gradually became one of the more important qualifications for employment. Though far from a liberal, Ashcroft deserves credit for refusing to authorize the law breaking involved in the first version of the Bush warrantless wiretapping program.