Political Manipulation of the Threat Level: Is Ridge's Charge a Federal Crime?
FindLaw columnist and former counsel to the president John Dean discusses a revelation made in former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Tom Ridge's recent memoir, The Test of Our Times. Ridge claims, in the book, that shortly before the 2004 presidential election, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, with the support of then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, urged that threat levels be raised, despite the lack of intelligence supporting that decision. As Dean describes, Ridge seems to be backing away from his claim now. Yet Dean notes that, based on Ridge's account, the claim should be able to be corroborated by four other people to whom Ridge wrote that he spoke at the time. Moreover, Dean contends -- citing case law and the relevant statute -- that Ridge's book's claim, if proven, could form the basis for a criminal conspiracy charge against Ashcroft and Rumsfeld. Friday, September 4, 2009

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