Ben-Veniste asks Ashcroft why he stopped flying commercial aircraft!

[feistydem]

Ashcroft spins out that he never stopped flying commercial aircraft

[Lex]

1. He sounds real nervous

about this "answer" he is giving.

[Florida_Geek]

8. My INTERNET stream was not usable

But he now only looked nervous but keep looking at paper in front of him for answers.

[Lex]

14. He said, in his answer

blah . . . blah . . . blah . . . Department of Justmus . . .

Justmus?

Nervous.

[feistydem]

10. You mean like maybe he's lying?

I hope there is some research done that clarifies his claims that he flew commercially.

Weird that he was on a charter flight on Sept. 11th though, of all the other times previously that he claimed to be on commercial planes. So why use a government plane on Sept. 11th specifically?

[Florida_Geek]

28. Remember all

Take Back the Media's how to spot a liar..

http://www.takebackthemedia.com/liar.html

[Florida_Geek]

2. Go Ben Go

[Anus Retainus]

3. Those shifty eyes...

after answering! He's looking for terrorists on the panel!

[0007]

16. ....or cold stone tits

[slor]

17. LOL...

that is funny!

[ET Awful]

4. If he says he never stopped, Ben Veniste needs to ask him. . .

to give examples, along with iteneraries of any commercial flights he took.

[Coventina]

5. WHOOOO-HOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Go get 'im tiger!

[Vickers]

6. "for personal trips"

Well, no SHIT, Sherlock, that's the way us po' folks do it, too.

[skypilot]

7. Well, that seems like something...

...that can be easily verified or discounted.

[ConcernedCanuk]

9. What was the slip where he almost said the 17th instead of the 11th ?

.
.
.

Was Ashcroft expecting something on the 17th?

Is the 17th a significant date in some way?

[soup]

18. Very weird slip. Caught my attention, too. n/t

[BGrier]

11. Say What?

I'm still not sure what Ashcroft said.

[proud patriot]

12. Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!

I want to see proof that he and wife traveled on public
Airlines ...where are the ticket stubs ?

Give me Proof AshCan

[xultar]

13. YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!

YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sequoia]

20. YEA, I say unto you

Yea. You're tops!

[Cleita]

15. Yeah I'd like to see passenger lists on flights he claims to have

been on.

[UTUSN]

19. O.K., Who Here's E-mailing BenVeniste? n/t

[CompassionateLiberal]

21. Check the Records of the NASA Leases

Why doesn't someone just follow-up on the leasing information for the G3 Gulfstream from NASA? According to the CBS article on 7/26/01, the Justice Dept leased a G3 Gulfstream to take Ashcroft on a 6-day personal vacation in July.

"In response to inquiries from CBS News over why Ashcroft was traveling exclusively by leased jet aircraft instead of commercial airlines, the Justice Department cited what it called a "threat assessment" by the FBI, and said Ashcroft has been advised to travel only by private jet for the remainder of his term.

Earlier this week, the Justice Department leased a NASA-owned G-3 Gulfstream for a 6-day trip to Western states. Such aircraft cost the government more than $1,600 an hour to fly. When asked whether Ashcroft was paying for any portion of the trips devoted to personal business, a Justice Department spokeswoman declined to respond. "

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/07/26/national/main...

[feistydem]

25. More on his flights summer before 9/11

CLIP

Ashcroft Flying High
WASHINGTON, July 26, 2001


Fishing rod in hand, Attorney General John Ashcroft left on a weekend
trip to Missouri Thursday afternoon aboard a chartered government jet,
reports CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart.

In response to inquiries from CBS News over why Ashcroft was traveling
exclusively by leased jet aircraft instead of commercial airlines, the
Justice Department cited what it called a "threat assessment" by the
FBI, and said Ashcroft has been advised to travel only by private jet
for the remainder of his term.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/07/26/national/main...

[vern]

22. maybe...

ben-veniste knew about the personal travel on commercial flights, and had already seen evidence of that, and that's why he didn't push the issue, but just wanted to get rid of it.

i'm dissappointed too, but it could actually be true.

[dpibel]

36. Wow!! I bet that's it!!!!!

I think you've probably nailed it!!

Or...or...maybe there was a calico cat in the hearing room, and it casted a spell over both of 'em.

That could be ddisappointing but true, too!

And...and...maybe JESUS told him he could fib a little, and clouded Ben-Veniste's mind!!!

It's sure possible, no matter how disappointting it would be!!

Maybe...maybe...ummm...Superman was a Nazi!!!

Yeah! For sure!!!

All those possibilites. All disappointingg. But they could be true!

[Beetwasher]

23. That's if He Had ANY Personal Trips

So, just exactly how many times has he flown commercial since it was reported that he stopped flying commercial...

[paulthompson]

24. slight of hand

Note that the claim was that he stopped flying public planes domestically. He never denied that. Rather, he said he kept flying public planes, but didn't say where. In the example he gave, it was flying from Germany to Washington DC. So it was an international flight.

So bringing up that example is a clever slight of hand. Where is the example of him flying on a domestic flight?

[feistydem]

26. What does he consider a domestic or commercial flight?

It depends on what the meaning of IS is...

I know some wealthy people who say they are flying a commercial jet but then they lease a small one from a commercial carrier

[RedSock]

27. why refuse to answer the question earlier?

if he never stopped using commercial aircraft and the answer is so simple, why did he storm out of his office when he was asked about it?

In May 2002 its claimed the threat assessment had nothing to do with al-Qaeda, but Ashcroft walked out of his office rather than answer questions about it.
AP at FoxNews
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,52982,00.html

Also from that story: "Since July 2001, Ashcroft has typically flown aboard an FBI jet or aboard other jets leased by U.S. agencies, although he occasionally has traveled on commercial flights, such as during a recent trip to Trinidad, Corallo said."

Sounds like he used FBI jets for business!!!!!!

[frylock]

32. nice catch..

you rule, Paul!!

[Woody Box]

29. Dan Rather 2001: Ashcroft is out to get me

presented my newsmax.com:

http://www.newsmax.com/showinsidecover.shtml?a=2002/5/2...

"CBS Evening News" anchorman Dan Rather accused Attorney General John Ashcroft Friday morning of personally ordering Justice Department aides to "sully up my reputation," a charge he leveled while trying to clarify his allegation two days ago that Ashcroft flew private jets last summer because of terrorist threats that he failed to warn the public about.

Am i wrong or did Ashroft elaborate that the threat was not terror-related?

[feistydem]

31. Yeah, he said "domestic" terror

I guess he was asserting like Oklahoma City.

So, why didn't the rest of us hear about a domestic terror threat on airplanes?

Also, how could he have been so wrong if he believed it to be a threat from some homegrown folks instead of terrorists from abroad. Or are we calling terrorists with a U.S. visa "domestic" now.

Complete and utter failures these Bush idiots are.

[Woody Box]

35. Here's another version of the threat:

"personal death threat"

same link, newsmax.com:

Imus cited a report by NBC's Pentagon correspondent, Jim Miklaszewski, who had explained after Rather's Wednesday appearance that the CBS newsman had gotten the story wrong; that, in fact, Ashcroft's decision to fly private aircraft was prompted by personal death threats and not a general terrorist threat assessment.

So we have a non-general domestic terroristic personal death threat or what?

Would you please elaborate, Mr. General?

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

30. What matters is that he received a threat assessment

not whether he stopped flying commercially on his own private business or not. That's the relevant issue, one which he didn't deny. I assume that an Attorney General even flying commercially on his own private business is SURROUNDED by people with guns anyway. But Ashcroft didn't explain what the threat was. And Ben-Veniste really let me down for not following up when he had the chance.

What was the nature of the threat in the threat assessment?
Who in the FBI issued the threat assessment?
Pursuant to what specific fact or facts?
In what form was that communicated to him? If a memo, then we need to see it.

[KoKo]

33. BenVeniste made it sound like asking Asscroft was Conspiracy Theory

question. He prefaced it by saying that the 9/11 Commission was cognizant of all the problems with the "Warren Commission" (JFK Death Investigation) where for years there were various theories because the Commission didn't ask certain questions. He almost apologized for asking Asscroft "why he stopped flying commercial."

Asscroft said he DOES fly commercial. End of story...nothing to see here, move along.

I was really upset about both the question and the answer. Seems that one of our "conspiracy theories" has been blown out of the water by Ben Venesite's question and Asscroft's answer.

[Junkdrawer]

34. Ashcroft lies...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[Stephanie]

37. I agree with you - Ben Veniste was way too apologetic about asking it

God forbid a question from the hoi polloi slip into the proceedings.

Ashcroft had a threat assessment. What was it? That's all we want to know.

[IkeWarnedUs]

38. Ashcroft gave speeches in these cities summer 2001

July 19, 2001 Colorado Safe Neighborhoods Event
July 23, 2001 Los Angeles, California
July 23, 2001 San Diego, California
July 24, 2001 Yuma, Arizona
July 24, 2001 San Diego, California
July 24, 2001 Calexico, California
July 26, 2001 St. Louis, Missouri
August 7, 2001 Chicago, Illinois
August 14, 2001 Phoenix, Arizona
August 14, 2001 Albuquerque, New Mexico
August 15, 2001 Birmiingham, Alabama
August 15, 2001 Mobile, Alabama
August 16, 2001 Memphis, Tennessee
August 16, 2001 Nashville, Tennessee
August 17, 2001 Dayton, Ohio
August 17, 2001 Columbus, Ohio
August 27, 2001 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Next speech listed is September 11, 2001

Does anyone know if Ashcroft was on vacation from the end of August until 9/11?

Also, does anyone know if there's a way to find out how he traveled? Expense reports? Flight lists?