TOM RIDGE & TERROR ALERTS

After the splash Tom Ridge made about his assertion that the criminal Bush regime played politics with terror alerts, I recalled that Ashcroft and Mueller came out with a big terror alert and at the same time Tom Ridge, then head of the Dept. of Homeland Security, said there were no plans to raise the threat level, indirectly contradicting Ashcroft and Mueller. I also recalled that after this, Ridge himself made the next terror announcement which I thought he was forced to do after showing up Ashrcroft and Mueller before. I couldn't recall even approximate dates and I didn't want to take the time to slog through the news.

Thanx to Heather's timeline at Crooks & Liars, I can now date the Ashcroft & Mueller report as occurring on May 26, 2004 and Ridge's denial that this was a big deal on the same day. From LexisNexis:

United Press International
May 26, 2004 Wednesday
Analysis: Playing politics with terror?
BYLINE: By SHAUN WATERMAN
LENGTH: 1523 words
DATELINE: WASHINGTON, May 26 (UPI)

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told morning news shows that there were no plans at present to raise the level, which was reviewed every day. He seemed to hint that it might not be raised in the immediate future.

"Every day we take a look at the overall threat reporting that we receive, not just on a day-to-day basis but over the past several weeks," he told NBC's Matt Lauer. "And there's not a consensus within the administration that we need to raise the threat level."

The suggestion that there was dissension in cabinet in this last comment was underlined by his comment to ABC's Charlie Gibson, who pressed him repeatedly on the way an unnamed senior official had characterized the threats as "among the most disturbing received since Sept. 11."

"It's not the most disturbing that I have personally seen during the past couple of years," Ridge said, adding that the Homeland Security council had not even met yet to consider raising the alert level.

"If it was that disturbing ... to the point that we needed to bring the president's advisors together and consider raising the threat alert, we would do just that."