MORE FBI BUMBLING FOR ASHCROFT

In a situation reminiscent of the mistaken arrest of Richard Jewel in the Atlanta Olympics bombing, the FBI ignored evidence that a Portland, Ore., lawyer was not linked to deadly train bombings in Spain.

Attorney General John Ashcroft, who has consistently trumpeted erroneous information as fact, keeps up his record with the latest FBI bumbling. The bureau determined, according to The New York Times, that fingerprints were a "100 percent match" with Brandon Mayfield's.

But after conducting their own tests, Spanish law enforcement officials said they reported back to the F.B.I. in an April 13 memo that the match was "conclusively negative." Yet for for five weeks, F.B.I. officials insisted their analysis was correct.

Remember, this is the same bureau and the same administration that wants Americans to trust them enough to hand over liberties for our own supposed benefit.