Attorney General John Ashcroft, announced that he will recuse himself from the Justice Department’s criminal probe of fallen energy giant Enron, raised a total of $57,499 from the company for his failed 2000 Senate campaign. Nearly half of that total -- $25,000 was given by Enron CEO Kenneth Lay to Ashcroft’s joint fund fundraising committee in the form of soft money. The Ashcroft Victory Committee also raised another $25,000 in soft money directly from Enron Corp., bringing the committee’s total take from Enron to $50,000.

Ashcroft raised a total of $2,500 from Enron employees in his campaign account during the 1999-2000 election cycle. The money arrived from five Enron employees on the same day June 1, 1999 and in identical amounts of $500. The Enron PAC contributed $4,999 to Ashcroft’s campaign committee in 1999-2000