Reply #4: Thom, I think both of those were correct [View All]

[Duer 157099]

just from my memory. Comey *did* say that Ashcroft was very lucid, down to remembering and discussing the details from the meeting they had previously on the topic -- when I heard Comey testify about that, it made an impression on me because Comey wanted to emphasize it for whatever reason. Perhaps to indicate that Ashcroft had understood the situation very well and was still not going to give the green light -- but that in any case, Comey was the guy in charge at that time so it wasn't even relevent.

Also, it was a recertification of the program. The DOJ had recently gotten new people on the job who were looking closely at it (can't recall the names/details) and this was why there were big question marks for the recert.