The closest Ashcroft came to justifying his lack of cooperation was this whopper: If we make public the methods we use to torture prisoners then Al Quaeda and others will train their people to resist these forms of torture.

No one had asked him about the methods of torture, only to state whether this administration thinks torture is OK. He was clearly in contempt of congress but, since the republicans (ie. Orrin Hatch) control the committee, nothing will happen and Ashcroft knows it.

Bevand Jerry