By Fred Jackson, Jim Brown, and Bill Fancher
(AgapePress) - Independent counsel Robert Ray says he will announce “very shortly” whether he will indict President Clinton for perjury and obstruction of justice.
USA Today reports that during an editorial board with the newspaper yesterday, Ray made some comments that indicated he will drop the probe against Clinton. He said the country has a great desire to move on, and described federal criminal prosecution as “an option of last resort.” However, the newspaper also made it clear that he might charge Clinton, mindful that no person is above the law, including the President.
At issue is President Clinton’s denial during a deposition that he had a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
Meanwhile, Senate confirmation hearings for Attorney General-designee John Ashcroft continue today. If confirmed, Ashcroft will most likely pursue justice in lingering Clinton Administration scandals that continue to haunt the White House. He vowed yesterday to enforce “all of the law for all of the people.”
In a 25-minute statement, Ashcroft responded directly to critics who have questioned whether his conservative convictions will interfere with his ability to enforce the law, especially on issues such as abortion.
"I am personally opposed to abortion," Ashcroft said. "But as I've explained ... I understand that the role of Attorney General is to enforce the law as it is, not as I would have it."
In the most heated exchange yesterday, liberal Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts pounded away at Ashcroft, demanding to know why he opposed a plan to desegregate St. Louis public schools.
“Where in your priority were the rights of the interests of the black students trying to get a good education?” Kennedy asked furiously. “You were there as attorney general and governor and did nothing about it.”
Ashcroft calmly noted that the plan was more about paying cities and counties for students leaving schools than about desegregation. He also reassured that he carried out every court order on the plan and personally saw to it that the state treasurer wrote a check funding the plan.
Kennedy also accused Ashcroft of using his power as Missouri governor and later as state attorney general “to advance his personal views in spite of the law of the land.” In addition, liberal Senator Charles Schumer of New York asked Ashcroft if he would be able to turn off his “zealous and impassioned advocacy” if he became Attorney General.
According to Phil Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition, “Both of these Senators are implying that because of Ashcroft’s faith in God, he will be unwilling to enforce laws that he disagrees with -- and that his Christian beliefs may disqualify him for public office.” Sheldon says he finds this viewpoint to be “insulting and dangerous to religious freedom.”
Michael Novak with the American Enterprise Institute agrees. “Extremist liberals seem to have a special hostility to evangelical Christians, such as John Ashcroft,” he says. However, “they do not propose similar assaults on any other religious group.”
Sheldon wonders why Senator Kennedy and other liberals never publicly criticized Senator Joe Lieberman for talking about God during the presidential election. According to Sheldon, “Kennedy’s hypocrisy knows no limits.”
Eagle Forum spokeswoman Lori Cole says her organization believes the effort to derail Ashcroft’s confirmation reveals some interesting facts. She points out those facts involve how liberal Democrats really feel.
“The left is trying to defeat Ashcroft and scare President-elect Bush into only appointing liberals to the Cabinet and the courts,” Cole says. “While calling for bi-partisanship, their definition certainly omits pro-life conservatives.”
Cole suggests the left is fearful of an Attorney General who will enforce the law and not bend it for political gain. She believes the left is frightened with the possibility of a qualified Attorney General that “can’t be bought with sex or money.”
While Ashcroft has received the brunt of his attacks from liberal congressmen and radical leftist interest groups, the news media has not offered the devout Christian much sympathy either.
The Media Research Center reports that on Monday’s Late Show with David Letterman, CBS’ veteran news anchor Dan Rather stated that President-elect Bush’s Cabinet choices of Ashcroft and Interior Secretary-designee Gail Norton are not “prudent.” Rather insisted "there will be an awful lot of people, even people who voted for him [Bush], who believe that these nominees is [sic] a little bit like moon walking in the end zone or hanging on the rim after you score."
In addition, Tom Brokaw began Monday’s NBC Nightly News by promising "race will be a major issue in the contentious hearings" for John Ashcroft’s confirmation, "especially since Ashcroft defended the Confederate agenda of Robert E. Lee." However, Brokaw declined to quote one line from Ashcroft’s actual comments on Lee and other Civil War generals.
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