John Ashcroft

U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie with U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft at a Justice Department news conference in 2003

WASHINGTON - Testifying at a House Judiciary subcommittee meeting today, former Attorney General John Ashcroft mainly explained why he’s qualified to be a federal monitor, but had some tough words for his critics.

Ashcroft compared the type of criticism he’s faced for being assigned a lucrative federal monitor contract by U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie to the political attacks he faced during his term as Attorney General. He did not single out any of his critics by name.

“As you may or may not recall there were many people who attacked me in the way that I chose to defend America from terrorists. Those assaults did not shake my commitment to protecting American lives through terrorism attacks,” he said. “Similarly, a monitor should be immune to pressure and should not allow attacks from whatever sources that contaminate the cause of justice. I will not allow external pressures to compromise my responsibilities as a monitor.”

WASHINGTON -- If the Justice Department hoped to allay Democrats’ concerns about deferred prosecution agreements by changing their guidelines yesterday, they weren’t successful.

At hearings today that were first for called by Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), Democrats said they weren’t satisfied with the proposed rule changes that would take some power out of the hands of U.S. Attorneys in deciding who gets assigned monitoring contracts.

Pascrell called for hearings after it was reported that U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie gave an oversight contract to former Attorney General John Ashcroft worth $28-52 million.

Just one day before former Attorney General John Ashcroft was set to testify in Congress about the federal oversight contract he was given by U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, the Justice Department banned federal prosecutors from selecting corporate monitors, the Star-Ledger reports.

Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft will testify before a House Judiciary subcommittee on Tuesday regarding his federal monitor contract worth up to $52 million over an eighteen month period. Ashcroft’s testimony might help the panel decide if they want to subpoena the person who awarded the no-bid contract, U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, the front runner for the 2009 Republican nomination for Governor.

New Jersey Democratic Representatives Frank Pallone and Bill Pascrell will testify on Tuesday at the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law’s hearing on deferred prosecution agreements.

Pascrell had requested the hearings in November, after it was reported that U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie assigned his former boss, former Attorney General John Ashcroft, to an a federal oversight contract with a medical implant device company worth between $27 and $52 million.

Former Attorney General John Ashcroft will testify at a Congressional hearing on Tuesday, March 11, regarding a multi-million dollar federal monitoring contract he received after he left the Bush Administration.

U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie with U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft at a Justice Department news conference in 2003
When the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law meets tomorrow, it will likely authorize committee chairman John Conyers to subpoena former Attorney General John Ashcroft regarding the federal oversight contract he received to monitor a medical implant company.

But not on the agenda tomorrow is whether to subpoena U.S. Attorney Chris Christie, who gave Ashcroft, his former boss, the contract. Ashcroft stands to make anywhere from $27 to $52 million overseeing the company, which agreed in a deferred prosecution agreement to accept oversight rather than face prosecution.

“I don’t think it would be correct to say it hasn’t been considered. It just hasn’t been done,” said Michael Torra, Chief of Staff to Subcommittee Chairwoman Linda Sanchez (D-CA). “Of course it’s a different situation between considering someone who’s now a private citizen versus a sitting federal prosecutor.”

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law will meet on Tuesday afternoon to consider whether to subpoena former Attorney General John Ashcroft regarding a contract he was given by New Jersey U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, according to a press release just issued by the subcommittee’s chair.

VINELAND - U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie confirmed today that he would not testify Tuesday before a House Judiciary Committee seeking information about his actions in rewarding a federal monitoring contract to former boss John Ashcroft.

The contract for the former U.S. Attorney General is worth between $27 and $52 million.

"I said all along that if the Justice Department asks me I will," said Christie, who said he refuses to get into a back and forth with U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, who yesterday suggested Congress may have to issue a subpoena in order to get Christie to testify.

Christie told PolitckerNJ.com that it impractical to think of United States attorneys going individually without departmental oversight to participate in Congressional hearings.

"If the Justice Department instructs me, I’ll go," he repeated.

Representative Frank Pallone said that the hearing in which U.S. Attorney Chris Christie and former Attorney General John Ashcroft were to testify in was postponed because the two would not agree to attend.

Although he’s not a member of the committee, Pallone said that based on his experience chairing the Health Committee, the next step may be to issue a subpoena.