Ashcroft Briefed Regularly on Inquiry Into C.I.A. Leak [NYTimes]. Congressional Democrats are concerned that a very hands-on Ashcroft could seriously stifle the independence of the Plame-thing investigation. They also question the Justice Department's use of the Patriot Act. So, of course, the Honorable Senator Orrin Hatch, of the Great State of Utah, had to chime in:

At the hearing, Mr. Wray and two top federal prosecutors said that the Patriot Act was a vital tool for the Justice Department to gain and share intelligence about terrorist suspects. Senator Orrin G. Hatch, the Utah Republican who heads the judiciary committee, blamed "intellectual babbling" and distortions and misrepresentations by opponents of the measure for public unease about it.

It's really too bad I don't live in Utah any more. I miss being able to vote for Orrin. When's he going to run for President?