The Capitol Steps : John Ashcroft, Patriot

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The Capitol Steps began as a group of Senate staffers who set out to satirize the very people and places that employed them. In the years that followed, many of the Steps ignored the conventional wisdom ("Don't quit your day job!"), and although not all of the current members of the Steps are former Capitol Hill staffers, taken together the performers have worked in a total of eighteen Congressional offices and represent 62 years of collective House and Senate staff experience.

John Ashcroft, Patriot

Who knew? James B. Comey, former Deputy Attorney General under John Ashcroft, recently revealed the dramatic tale to the Senate Judicary Committee. From his hospital bed in March 2004, the Attorney General at the time and his deputy stared down White House officials Alberto Gonzales and Andy Card, refusing to certify that the N.S.A.'s warrantless domestic wiretapping was legal. They won that skirmish -- but they didn't deter President Bush, or the National Security Agency, from continuing the program.

Glory, N.S.A.

From the album Springtime for Liberals.

Published Thursday, May 31, 2007 12:00 AM by The Capitol Steps

Filed under: gonzales, ashcroft, NSA, wiretapping

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