Openness, Listening Win Friends as He Holds Ashcroft Line
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 16, 2005
New Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales has urged Congress to renew the controversial USA Patriot Act, has jumped into the fierce partisan battle over judicial nominations and has rejected Democratic demands to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate allegations of torture against U.S. detainees.
These and other positions are not much different from those taken by Gonzales's sharp-tongued predecessor, John D. Ashcroft. Yet three months into the job, and despite a contentious confirmation battle in the Senate, the accolades for Gonzales are flowing in.
Lawmakers, including some Democrats who voted against his appointment, are praising his openness and mild-mannered demeanor. U.S. attorneys and career Justice Department employees say they welcome his open-door management style. And outside critics say they are merely grateful that Gonzales has agreed to hear them out.
Earlier this month, Gonzales invited leaders of the American Library Association to discuss the group's objections to a provision in the Patriot Act that allows the FBI to secretly seize library records. Ashcroft, by contrast, labeled librarians "hysterics" for raising such concerns.
"The simple difference is that he is at least willing to sit down and talk with us," said Carol Brey-Casiano, the group's president. "We did not have that opportunity with his predecessor. . . . I'm cautiously optimistic at this point."
Gonzales, in a brief interview Friday in an ornate conference room on the Justice Department's seventh floor, said he is only acting like himself. His experience as a former Texas Supreme Court judge has influenced the way he approaches issues, he said. "I like to listen. . . . I don't have a problem sitting down and listening to people and hearing their point of view."
"I can't speak to how John did his job in terms of style or tone," he added, "but I think he was very effective." Ashcroft, who has launched a new Washington consulting firm, declined through a spokeswoman to comment for this article.
The stark differences in style between the two attorneys general has smoothed Gonzales's transition from White House counsel to the nation's chief law enforcement officer, even as he implements few changes in his predecessor's policies.
On the Patriot Act, Gonzales has agreed to minor technical modifications to the law and has repeatedly said he is open "to engage in dialogue," as he put it in his interview. But he has not endorsed any substantive limitations to the 2001 law that gave law enforcement agents more far-reaching powers against terrorism. He is pushing for expansion of the law in other areas.
Gonzales also is moving ahead with significant changes at Justice, including a likely reorganization of national security-related divisions in coming weeks. He has named several new nominees for senior Justice positions, drawing them primarily from an influential clique of conservative lawyers, and has surrounded himself with advisers from his days at the White House.
Gonzales also has signaled his intent to increase the department's emphasis on criminal justice issues such as gang violence and human trafficking that have been overshadowed in recent years by the domestic focus on terrorism. He formed a task force to focus on prosecuting obscenity cases, attracting praise from religious conservatives, who have been lukewarm to Gonzales because of some of his Texas judicial rulings related to abortion.
The attorney general said that although combating terrorism will remain the department's first priority, "that doesn't mean that we can ignore these issues."
None of those priorities is particularly at odds with the agenda pursued by Ashcroft during his four years in office, however, and there are no signs of major policy shifts in law enforcement or counterterrorism coming from the White House. Viet D. Dinh, a Georgetown University law professor who headed the department's Office of Legal Policy under Ashcroft, said "a mid-course correction" is unlikely because "the Justice Department is on the right course."
"Both Ashcroft and Gonzales in their own way were the right person at the right time," Dinh said. "General Ashcroft was seeking to restore confidence amid fears of a terrorist threat. General Gonzales is seeking to restore confidence amid fears of governmental overreach."
Indeed, a great deal of Gonzales's time during his first months in office has been spent trying to reassure lawmakers and interest groups about the government's conduct in the war on terrorism. In Senate testimony, for example, Gonzales for the first time released detailed statistics about how the FBI and Justice had used surveillance and search powers under the Patriot Act. He reported that the government had yet to use the law to seize library records.
Gonzales's appearances on Capitol Hill garnered glowing reviews from lawmakers, including Democrats such as Sen. Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.), who had opposed his nomination in January.
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in an interview that Gonzales "has gotten off to a good start," but added that "it's too early to say a whole lot more." Specter said Gonzales still may need to be more flexible in considering changes to the Patriot Act, parts of which are set to expire later this year.
"It's very much to his credit that he's been willing to meet with all sides on the Patriot Act," said Specter, a former federal prosecutor. "He's gotten some good notices on that because his predecessor didn't do it. Around here in Washington, if you meet with people and give them a hearing, it goes a long way."
Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, which sharply criticized Ashcroft throughout his tenure, said that he welcomed the "change in tone" and that Gonzales was receptive during a recent meeting.
But Romero and other critics also said they remained concerned about Gonzales's close ties to the White House and the role that he played in formulating legal policies concerning torture and interrogations, which were the central theme of his confirmation hearings.
Gonzales attracted Democratic criticism last week for holding a news conference to urge an "up-or-down vote" on judicial nominees in the Senate -- the theme Republicans have sounded as they seek to end filibusters for judicial candidates. He also sought to minimize a court opinion he wrote as a Texas judge that criticized a current judicial nominee and two other judges for an "unconscionable act of judicial activism" in seeking to restrict a minor's right to an abortion.
"He has a compelling life story, he has an agreeable demeanor, yet there was an enormous outcry over his confirmation," Romero said. "It appears to be more business as usual, at least for now, and that he's just testing the waters. . . . I don't think the American public will be deceived if it's just a smile and a softer edge."