Justice turns blind eye to statue

Associated Press

WASHINGTON – It’s a Washington cover-up of a different sort.

The Justice Department spent $8,000 on blue drapes that hide two giant, partially nude statues in the Great Hall of the agency’s headquarters, said spokesman Shane Hix.

The drapes were occasionally hung in front of the aluminum Art Deco statues before formal events, “for aesthetics,” Hix said. The department used to rent the drapes, but has now purchased them and left them hanging.

The drapes provide a nice background for television cameras, Hix said.

ABC News reported that Attorney General John Ashcroft, a religious and conservative man, ordered the statues covered because he didn’t like being photographed in front of them.

Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, Ashcroft has been photographed several times in front of the female statue that represents the Spirit of Justice. The 10- to 12-foot statue has its arms raised and a toga draped over its body, but a single breast is completely exposed.

The other statue, of a man with a cloth covering his midsection, is called the Majesty of Law.

Both statues were installed in the 1930s when the building was finished, according to the Justice Department.

Hix said the Justice Department bought the drapes to avoid having to rent them every time the agency had a formal event. The drapes cost about $2,000 to rent.

He also said Ashcroft was not involved in the decision.

“The attorney general was not even aware of the situation,” he said. “Obviously, he has more important things to do.”

The Great Hall is an ornate, two-story room that the department uses for ceremonies and special speeches.

In the past, snagging a photo of the attorney general in front of the statues has been somewhat of a sport for photographers.

When former Attorney General Edwin Meese released a report on pornography in the 1980s, photographers dived to the floor to capture the image of him raising the report in the air, with the partially nude female statue behind him.