Ashcroft's Attitudes on Gay Rights Foster More Criticism for Nominee

AP 26jan01

WASHINGTON -- A controversy about John Ashcroft's statements on gay rights widened Thursday as the nation's first openly gay ambassador and a health-care expert questioned the truthfulness of the U.S. attorney general-designate's comments to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

James Hormel, who served as ambassador to Luxembourg, said Mr. Ashcroft opposed his Senate confirmation "solely because I am a gay man." Paul Offner, now at Georgetown University, said Mr. Ashcroft asked about his sexual orientation during a 1985 job interview.

U.S. President George W. Bush's spokeswoman on the nomination said Mr. Ashcroft didn't recall any such interview.

At his Senate confirmation hearings last week, Mr. Ashcroft denied he opposed Mr. Hormel because of his homosexuality and said sexual preference wasn't a factor in his hiring practices as a governor or senator -- nor would it be if he is confirmed to head the Justice Department.

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R., Miss.) has predicted Ashcroft's confirmation although Sen. Edward Kennedy (D., Mass.) leading the opposition, has said he plans extensive debate -- hinting at a filibuster. While a simple majority is needed for confirmation, 60 votes are necessary to stop delaying tactics.

"I don't know whether there's 40 votes, 50 votes, 55 votes," Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D. S.D.) said Thursday. Sen. Daschle said he would "discourage Democratic filibusters, but it doesn't mean that any one of my colleagues may not still make the effort. It's not my expectation that there will be one."

At least three Democrats have said they would support the nomination while several said they would oppose Ashcroft. Sen. Patty Murray (D., Wash.) was the latest Democrat to announce her opposition.

Mr. Hormel, who just returned to the U.S., joined a news conference of Mr. Ashcroft foes, including civil liberties, women's rights, Hispanic and Asian-American groups. Former President Clinton gave Mr. Hormel the post in 1999 under a procedure that bypassed the Senate when the chamber was out of session.

Mr. Hormel said he concluded his homosexuality caused Mr. Ashcroft's opposition "not only from his refusal to raise any specific objection to my nomination, but also from Mr. Ashcroft's public comments at the time of my nomination and his own long record of resistance to acknowledging the rights of all citizens, regardless of their sexual orientation."

However Sen. Tim Hutchinson (R., Ark.) wrote in a letter to Mr. Ashcroft on Thursday that he -- not Mr. Ashcroft -- held up the Hormel nomination. When he asked Mr. Ashcroft to join his "hold" on the nomination, the Missouri Republican declined, Sen. Hutchinson wrote.

Mr. Offner held his own news conference to give his version of Mr. Ashcroft's questioning when the nominee was governor of Missouri and Mr. Offner was applying for a top state position.

"After we had shaken hands and sat down ... he said, 'My first question, Mr. Offner, is do you have the same sexual preferences as most men?' I was blown away."

Mr. Offner, a Democrat, said he told others about the incident soon after it happened. He contacted the Senate Judiciary Committee after Mr. Ashcroft told his confirmation hearing that he never considered sexual preference when hiring employees.

"I knew that wasn't true in my case," he said.

The head of Mr. Ashcroft's gubernatorial transition team and the team's director of executive recruitment -- Carl Koupal and Duncan Kincheloe -- said Thursday they sat in on the 1985 interview, and Mr. Ashcroft never asked Mr. Offner about his sexual preference.

"I can say John Ashcroft did not ask that question of him or any other candidate we spoke to," Mr. Koupal said in a telephone interview. "I have no explanation of why he would say that. That question was never asked of Paul Offner or anyone else."

Said Mr. Kincheloe in a separate telephone interview: "It's inconceivable to me, and I'm certain I would remember if it had been asked. I've never heard him ask about that, and I've sat through dozens and dozens of interviews with him."

Mr. Bush's spokeswoman on the Ashcroft nomination, Mindy Tucker, said, "The senator does not recall this meeting and cannot imagine starting a meeting off with that question.

Mr. Ashcroft also told his confirmation hearings that opposition to Mr. Hormel wasn't related to his sexual orientation. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) cited 1998 news accounts that quoted Mr. Ashcroft as objecting on those grounds.