The Justice Department is objecting to a profile of Attorney General John Ashcroft in Vanity Fair. The New York Daily News says the article, due out this week, accuses Ashcroft of “everything from alleged sexism and racism to attempts to curtail civil liberties, and to his ‘extreme’ and ‘narcissistic’ religious convictions – notably the belief that calico cats are ‘instruments of the Devil.’ ”
Mark Corallo, spokesman for Ashcroft, who refused to give Vanity Fair an interview, says, “There’s a reason why we didn’t participate in this. This is a classic hit piece filled with innaccuracies and flat-out fantasies, such as the [calico cat] example … and can hardly be called journalism.”
Vanity Fair quotes therapist William Demeo as saying that Ashcroft’s “determination to liken his political career to the life and death of Christ is a sign of ‘narcissism – without question.’ ” While hosting a dinner as governor of Missouri, the magazine reports, Ashcroft noted that valuables were “bolted down” because the African-American waiters at the governor’s mansion were convicts on furlough from a state prison. Ashcroft allegedly told a guest: “I’m sure you know who the waiters are. You know how they are.”
Link: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/story/151890p-133792c.html