28 January 2002

WASHINGTON COVER-UP

Justice Department hangs drapes over partially naked statues.

The Justice Department spent $8,000 on blue drapes to hide two partially nude statues in the Great Hall of the agency's headquarters, the Spirit of Justice, a12-foot statue with its arms raised and a toga draped over its body but a breast exposed,and the other statue, a man with a cloth covering his midsection called the Majesty of Law. Both statues were installed in the 1930s when the building was finished. The department used to rent the drapes, but has now purchased them and left them hanging.

ABC News reported that Attorney General John Ashcroft, a religious fanatic, ordered the statues covered because he didn't like being photographed in front of them. 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 catch him raising the report in the air, with the partially nude female statue behind him.

The artist at work on his masterpiece about 9/11.