Say, did everyone catch this little item last month?

Attorney General John Ashcroft's 32-city tour last year to promote the Patriot Act kicked up fresh criticism Tuesday after a new review by congressional investigators placed the price tag at $200,000.

The top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee asked Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine to investigate. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., said in a letter to Fine that he thought Ashcroft had violated laws barring taxpayers' money from being spent on grass-roots lobbying and promotional campaigns by executive branch officials without congressional approval.

A Justice Department spokesman said the Office of Legal Counsel had cleared the trips, and that they were designed to help the public understand how the government was fighting terrorism.

"There were gross mischaracterizations out there about the Patriot Act that were not only confusing people but were bringing down the morale of law enforcement," Mark Corallo said. "They were wrong, and we had to correct the record."

A spokesman for Fine said there was no current investigation regarding Ashcroft's travel, and declined to comment on Conyers' letter.

Experts from independent watchdog groups known for criticizing both Democrats and Republicans said the attorney general's Patriot Act tour raised serious questions.

"I do think it breaks the law," said Melanie Sloan, a former federal prosecutor who runs the Center for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

Sloan added that the law is largely ignored. Executive branch officials regularly campaign for initiatives before Congress, such as tax cuts and Medicare, without being penalized.

Ashcroft launched his tour in August 2003 amid mounting criticism of the Patriot Act, the sweeping anti-terrorism law that passed shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks increasing the government's police and surveillance powers. The Justice Department had been caught off guard when just weeks earlier the House of Representatives nearly approved a provision by Reps. C.L. "Butch" Otter, R-Idaho, and Bernard Sanders, a Vermont independent, that would have weakened the Patriot Act.

In addition to Ashcroft's tour, the Justice Department's Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys instructed federal prosecutors to lobby their members of Congress in favor of the law.

A Web site (www.lifeandliberty.gov) went up to counter what department officials said were inaccuracies about the anti-terrorism law circulating in the media and among advocates for civil liberties.

A new review by the Government Accountability Office, provided in a briefing to Congress, found that expenses for the Patriot Act effort were at least $208,130. The bulk of that was $152,361 for the 16-city Patriot Act tour, which included 15 advance trips by staff.

A second 16-city tour, dubbed the Life and Liberty tour, cost $47,138. In those trips in mid-September, Ashcroft promoted the Patriot Act and also spoke about crime statistics and other Justice Department topics.

The Patriot Act Web site cost $8,630 to create.

Eighty of 93 U.S. attorneys reported that they contacted members of Congress, gave pro-Patriot Act speeches before community groups and made media appearances to whip up support for the measure. The GAO found that the costs for those efforts weren't tracked. (Knight-Ridder)