Were Ibn Hajar Asqalani and Imam Nawawi followers of Ash'ari Aqeedah? If so did they propagate it? There are many Ash'arees nowadays who use that as a justification to continue to follow the Ash'ari Aqeedah.

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

Imaam Ibn Hajar Al-'Asqalaani and Imaam An-Nawawi are among the great scholars and learned men who practised what they knew and preached to others. Indeed Allaah made people love them, but they are not infallible. They [the two scholars in question] agreed with the Ashaa'irah in relation to the interpretation of some Names and Attributes of Allaah, but it is not correct to say that they are Ash'ari because if one person agrees partially with a given group, he is not necessarily one of them.

The Ashaa'irah have a complete methodology and Ibn Hajar Al-'Asqalaani and An-Nawawi did not agree with all what the Ashaa'irah said.

The great scholar Ibn 'Uthaymeen said: 'Would it be correct to say that these two men and others like them are from the Ashaa'irah? The answer is: "No", because the Ashaa'irah have an independent methodology that has an entity about the Names and Attributes of Allaah, faith and the Hereafter, etc… Most of people do not understand their methodology and the only thing they (people) know is that they (Ashaa'irah) differ in opinion from the righteous predecessors about the Names and Attributes of Allaah, while in fact they contradict Ahlus-Sunnah Wal-Jamaa'ah in many matters other than the Names and Attributes of Allaah. However, if someone agrees with one of their views about the Names and Attributes of Allaah, we do not say that he is Ash'ari. For instance, if a person from the Hanbali School chooses one opinion of among the opinions of the Shaafi'ee school, would we say that he is a Shaafi'ee? The answer is "No." So you have to be very careful about these very delicate matters and not hasten to give judgements.'

To conclude, even if Ibn Hajar Al-'Asqalaani and An-Nawawi agreed with the Ashaa'irah in some matters, they did not agree with them in all the matters in which they believed. So it is not correct to say that they are Ash'ari. Moreover, the Ashaa'irah have no excuse [in front of Allaah] about their methodology just because some scholars agreed with them in some issues, and that was a matter of Ijtihaad (a juristic opinion on matters which are not specified in the Quran or the Sunnah), because the evidence is in the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of the Prophet and not in the mistakes of some scholars. 

Allaah knows best.