Attorney General’s PATRIOT Act campaign violated no anti-lobbying laws
Ashcroft spent $210,000 in 2003 stumping for the law, according to GAO.
Attorney General John Ashcroft's $210,000 educational campaign on the merits of the 2001 PATRIOT Act did not violate federal anti-lobbying laws, Justice Department auditors concluded.
An investigation by Justice Inspector General Glenn A. Fine found that Ashcroft is immune from federal laws prohibiting political activity and that the department's efforts to educate the public about the law did not meet the "narrow category of agency communication," required to violate the Anti-Lobbying Act. The 1919 law generally prohibits federal employees from lobbying for or against legislation.
The PATRIOT Act, passed soon after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks with the intention of broadening crime fighters' ability to investigate terrorist activities, has received heavy criticism from civil rights groups, which say the law infringes on privacy rights. Justice officials, however, maintain that it is necessary to prevent another terrorist attack.
Ashcroft mounted a campaign in August 2003 to educate the public on the merits of the controversial law. His public relations campaign included making two tours spanning 27 states, setting up a Web site and issuing an order requiring U.S. Attorneys to contact congressional representatives and hold community meetings discussing the law. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO-05-95R), the promotional effort cost more than $210,000.
In response, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, D-Mich., accused Ashcroft of violating a federal law banning propaganda efforts by the executive branch and called for an investigation by the inspector general.
Conyers cited the Aug. 13, 2003 order requiring U.S. Attorneys to contact congressional representatives and conduct community meetings to discuss the law. The memo stated that the attorneys were to educate and influence any vote on the PATRIOT Act, which Conyers said violated federal law.
The inspector general found that Ashcroft did not violate anti-lobbying laws because as a political appointee, the attorney general is exempt from them. Fine, in an Oct. 22, 2004 letter to Conyers, said the national tours were not "purely partisan," and Ashcroft did not urge members of the public to contact their legislative representatives.