Ashcroft has benign lesions removed

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft had two benign skin lesions removed Friday, a Justice Department spokesperson said Tuesday.

"He had one removed from his ear, and one from his chest," said Ashcroft's chief spokesperson, Barbara Comstock.

The lesions were found to be benign "in the past couple of days," Comstock said. Ashcroft, 59, has had similar lesions removed in the past, which also were benign, she said.

At a Justice Department news conference late Friday afternoon, reporters noticed a small bandage on Ashcroft's left ear and that he was wearing glasses. Afterward, a spokesperson said Ashcroft wore glasses because his eyes had just been dilated, but said nothing of the medical procedure on his ear.