Ashcroft Hires Democrat to Shop a Book Deal

Posted on November 15, 2005

The New York Times reports that the extremely conservative former attorney general John Ashcroft is shopping a book proposal. That's not unusual, but what is unusual is who Ashcroft has chosen to shop the deal: prominent Washington book attorney (and noted Democrat) Robert B. Barnett. Barnett negotiated the multimillion dollar deals for both Bill and Hillary Clinton.

A spokeswoman for Ashcroft said Barnett was hired in connection with an undisclosed book project. It is believed that Ashcroft, a former governor of Missouri and former U.S. senator, is considering a book about his four years (2001-2004) as attorney general.
Barnett is clearly identified as a Democrat. Federal Election Commission records show him contributing this year to Democratic Sens. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Maria Cantwell of Washington and Bill Nelson of Florida. In 2003 and 2004, he helped Democratic presidential candidates John Kerry, Howard Dean, Dick Gephardt and Joe Lieberman. Records dating back to 1999 show no Barnett contributions to any Republican.

When it comes to landing that lucrative book deal, clearly politics don't stand in the way.