The Gortons and Slades - Washington Secretary of State

348 sLAde goRton: A hALf centuRy in poLitics
Somebody did make these rules. Somebody built this wall. . . . Full disclosure
compels me to inform you that the author of this memorandum
is a member of this commission.” 11
In truth, Gorelick’s 1995 memo did little more than reiterate the Justice
Department’s longstanding policy on terrorism cases. “The first
bricks of the so-called wall were put into place in the 1980s as a result of
court orders intended to protect civil liberties,” wrote Philip Shenon, the
New York Times reporter who covered the commission. The “wall” was
largely a legacy of the Watergate-era enemies list paranoia, a response to
the danger of giving the FBI and CIA carte blanche to spy on American
citizens. After Gorelick left the Justice Department, “the memo was
widely misinterpreted by the FBI to bar almost all evidence sharing—but
she was not its creator.” 12
Kerrey realized it was a setup when his BlackBerry began vibrating. As
Ashcroft was somberly detailing how the Democrats had blood on their
hands, e-mails were pouring in. “You traitor, you should be ashamed of
yourself for having somebody like Gorelick on the 9/11 commission,” one
said. Ashcroft had greased the skids. 13
They all knew the wall was made of straw. Zelikow and the staff had
parsed the issue for the commission. Gorton was shocked, however, that
the Attorney General of the United States would stoop so low. Though
they were never close friends in the Senate, “I had a high regard for Ashcroft’s
character. But this attack was unprincipled. I was astounded and
infuriated. Jamie was frantic and clawing through her papers, trying to
get ready to respond.” Gorelick turned anxiously to commission staffers,
asking them to dig out more documents. Slade was sitting next to her. He
leaned over, tapped her arm and whispered, “Let me do this.” 14
The verbal dexterity that so many Democrats have denounced as arrogance
was now unleashed on a conservative Republican, with Gorton
saying in essence, “Mr. Ashcroft, why didn’t you tear down this wall?” He
dis played a memo from Ashcroft’s top deputy. Dated August 6, 2001—
one month before the terrorist attacks—it informed Ashcroft that “the
1995 procedures” remained in effect. “If that wall was so disabling,” Gorton
asked, “why was it not destroyed” during the eight months before 9/11
that Ashcroft was running the Justice Department? 15
Ashcroft bobbed and weaved, saying the memo was “a step in the direction
of lowering the wall . . .” When Gorton observed that the steps seemed
insignificant, Ashcroft replied, “I missed your question, commissioner.” 16
Despite his fumbling performance, Ashcroft was hailed by Republican
lawmakers and The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page, as well as Rush