by David Masci and Patrick Marshall

About the authors: David Masci is a staff writer for the CQ Researcher, a weekly news and research report published by Congressional Quarterly, Inc. Patrick Marshall is a freelance writer and editor who writes about public policy and technology.

As a Republican senator from Missouri, Attorney General John Ashcroft served on the Judiciary Committee. So when he testified on Capitol Hill on December 6, 2001, before his old panel, the camaraderie was palpable as he joked and reminisced with his former colleagues.

But the smiles quickly disappeared when the hearing—on civil liberties following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon by Middle Eastern airplane hijackers—began in earnest. Democrats and Republicans alike closely questioned and even criticized Ashcroft on...