Attorney General John Ashcroft, one of President Bush's most controversial Cabinet members, and Commerce Secretary Don Evans, will not serve in the second term of his administration, the White House announced last night. Ashcroft drafted his resignation in a five-page, handwritten letter dated Nov. 2 -- Election Day -- in which he boasted that Americans have achieved safety from crime and terrorism. Ashcroft has been a lightning rod for criticism through his passionate advocacy of the Patriot Act and a plan to strengthen it that Congress has yet to approve. The Justice Department said the White House accepted his resignation and did not pressure him to stay. Evans, one of Bush's closest friends in Washington, and himself a wealthy Texas oilman, has spent much of his Commerce Department tenure traveling the world to promote U.S. trade.

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