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Friday, Jan. 26, 2001

But there was no sign that their attempt to derail his nomination was likely to succeed.

Ashcroft's opponents highlighted areas where they said he misled the Senate Judiciary Committee during exhaustive confirmation proceedings last week. Such testimony was crucial, his critics said, because Ashcroft vowed to enforce abortion, gun control and civil rights laws, even where he disagrees with them. Any evidence that he misled the committee about his past behavior could cast doubt on the validity of these promises.

"I am beginning to sense that the issue of Senator Ashcroft possibly misleading the committee as seeming to resonate," said Elliot M. Mincberg, attorney for the left-wing group that calls itself People for the American Way.

The nomination has been the most controversial episode of the incoming administration of President Bush, pitting the conservative nominee's religious, anti-abortion and gun rights views against a strident campaign by leftist special-interest groups.

But so far, the anti-religious left has not been able to alter the political dynamic that seems to ensure that Ashcroft will be confirmed on the Senate floor. No Republicans are prepared to oppose him, and no Democrats have said they will definitely filibuster the nomination. Already, three Democrats have announced that they will vote for him in a Senate split 50-50 down party lines.

"What I have said, publicly and privately, is that we will not filibuster any nomination," Senate Democrat leader Thomas Daschle said on Thursday. But Daschle made no guarantees. "I'm not in control of each senator in my caucus on this or any other matter."

At a press conference held Thursday, philanthropist James Hormel told reporters that Ashcroft opposed his nomination to be ambassador to Luxembourg in 1997 because Hormel is homosexual. Ashcroft said during his confirmation proceedings that that was the reason for his opposition. Ashcroft said at the hearing that his opposition to Hormel was "based on the totality of his record."

"I can only conclude that Mr. Ashcroft chose to vote against me solely because I am a gay man," Hormel said, adding that at the time Ashcroft never queried him on his record, but only made public statements that seemed to indicate concern over his sexual orientation.

Ashcroft was quoted as saying of Hormel in 1998: "He has been a leader in promoting a lifestyle … and the kind of leadership he has exhibited there is likely to be offensive to … individuals in the setting to which he will be assigned."

Critics said the matter reflected a tendency toward hypocrisy. "Now he testifies that he'll enforce the law," AFL-CIO President John Sweeney told reporters Thursday. "But too much is at stake, for the nation and for all our citizens ... to rely upon this 'confirmation conversion.' "

White House officials in charge of shepherding Ashcroft's nomination through the Senate could not be reached for comment.

Ashcroft said during his testimony that he had known Hormel "for a long time" and Hormel had recruited Ashcroft into law school.

"I want to state unequivocally and for the record that there is no personal or professional relationship between me and Mr. Ashcroft which could possible support such a statement," Hormel wrote in a letter to the committee last week.

Ashcroft also told the committee "sexual orientation has never been something that I've used in hiring in any of the jobs, in any of the offices I've held."

But according to an article in Thursday's Washington Post, a health care policy expert said Ashcroft, while Missouri governor in 1985, did question him about his orientation. "If his position is that this has never been an issue with him, then why did he say it?" the expert, Paul Offner, told the Post. Offner is a Democrat. The Post quoted friends of Offner as saying that he had told them about the alleged incident at the time.

A spokesman for Ashcroft told the Post that he did not recall the meeting and can't imagine asking such a question. He employed homosexuals during his eight years as Missouri governor, the spokesman said.

Democrats this week delayed a committee vote on the Ashcroft nomination until next week to further study his record. But they said Thursday he had yet to file all of the information requested by the committee – 368 written questions.

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