operation Catcher's Mitt -- ever heard of it? Ashcroft squashed it.

[grasswire]

In the new Newsweek magazine, Isikoff and Evan Thomas review the Bush administration's early lack of focus on counter-terrorism. Mentioned is something called "Catcher's Mitt" -- a top-secret operation squashed by Ashcroft.

Nothing turns up on google search. Has anyone seen information specifically about that named operation?

Here's the bit about the Newsweek story:

NEW YORK, March 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Newsweek has learned that in the months before 9/11, the U.S. Justice Department curtailed a highly classified program called "Catcher's Mitt" to monitor Al Qaeda suspects in the United States, after a federal judge severely chastised the FBI for improperly seeking permission to wiretap terrorists. During the Bush administration's first few months in office, Attorney General John Ashcroft downgraded terrorism as a priority, choosing to place more emphasis on drug trafficking and gun violence, report Investigative Correspondent Michael Isikoff and Assistant Managing Editor Evan Thomas in the March 29 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, March 22).

[phaseolus]

1. I'm willing to bet...

...that since Ashcroft cancelled it, part of the project was monitoring firearms and/or explosives purchases.

[DeepModem Mom]

2. kick -- this is quite a piece of information from Newsweek

[tobius]

3. isn't this one of the reasons for the big support in the senate and

congress for the patriot act?