One of Mr. Ashcroft's newest clients is ChoicePoint, a broker of consumer data that is increasingly being used by the government to keep tabs on people within the United States. The company received millions of dollars in contracts from the Justice Department under Mr. Ashcroft as part of the war on terror and has now hired him to find more.
"The Ashcroft Group contacted us and we initiated a relationship," said Chuck Jones, a ChoicePoint spokesman. "He's got a lot of knowledge that could benefit ChoicePoint."
Apparently, Ashcroft thinks if he is up front about his lobbying, it will be more palatable. He is the first former Attorney General actually to call himself a "lobbyist." He even brags about his connections to prospective clients:
In a mission statement to prospective clients, he boasts of his connections. Mr. Ashcroft and "his talented team," the statement says, "have developed and cultivated close relationships with leaders in the corporate world as well as with officials in the top levels of the U.S. Government."
He's also joined the speaker circuit, charging $75k per speech.
He doesn't mind getting paid to lobby for programs he once opposed. Case in point:
One of his first clients was the software giant Oracle, which was seeking Justice Department approval for a $5.8 billion takeover of Siebel Systems, its largest competitor. Oracle hired Mr. Ashcroft, although as attorney general he opposed a $10 billion Oracle-PeopleSoft merger.
Just a month after the Ashcroft Group came on the scene, the Siebel takeover sailed through. Oracle declined to comment, as did the Justice Department.
Another client: Israel Aircraft Industries International.
The Israeli aerospace company hired Mr. Ashcroft as it seeks $2 billion in military contracts from South Korea in competition with Boeing.
Another is LTU Technologies, which peddles visual imaging technology to agencies like Customs and the FBI.
A year ago, Ashcroft was teaching at a Christian university. Now he's not above taking a swipe at his midwestern roots.
Mr. Ashcroft declined to identify his other clients except to say, "It's not Billy Bob's car wash in Peoria."
