In 2001, President George W. Bush appointed John Ashcroft to serve as U.S. Attorney General, citing his exemplary character and unblemished record. Two of Ashcroft's Political Action Committees (PACs) later paid a $37,000 fine for breaking finance campaign laws during the 2000 election cycle.

[In 2003, Ashcroft was appointed to investigate a leak to conservative columnist Robert Novak by two top White House officials of the identity of female CIA agent Valerie Plame (a Federal crime punishable by up to ten years in prison). The investigation began 74 days after the leak. An investigation of former treasury secretary Paul O'Neill, on the other hand, was launched one day after he criticized Bush on national television.]