DOJ appoints Special Prosecuter to CIA Leak Investigation

[unfrigginreal]

Breaking on MSNBC...no link

[barbaraann]

1. They are just dragging it out until after the 2004 elections.

This should have been done long ago.

[hobbes159]

6. Will take a couple of months to get the appointment confirmed

Only then will the prosecuter be able to look at the evidence -- even more time for the evidence to be shredded or doctored (if it hadn't already happened)....

[Walt Starr]

2. Who are they appointing, Ted Olsen?

Some other fuck who has ties to the BFEE?

Inquiring minds want to know the connection the SP will have to the BFEE.

[Beetwasher]

3. Kissinger?

:shrug:

[unfrigginreal]

4. Didn't catch the name...on CNN now nt

[remfan]

10. Took them this long to find the "right" person for the job

and you can bet they've been thoroughly vetted by the VPs office.

[Bozita]

13. How about James Baker of Baker Botts?

I hear that he's coming home soon.

[Padraig18]

5. ON CNN: Ashcroft recuses himself. n/t

[MoonAndSun]

7. Yaoo link

<http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=542&e=1&u=/ap/20031230/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/cia_leak>

[Beetwasher]

8. HERE'S THE GUY! START DIGGING!

T"he investigation will be headed by the U.S. attorney in Chicago, Patrick Fitzgerald..."

[Walt Starr]

12. Apponted by Bush Jr. and confirmed by the Senate Oct 24, 2001

http://fitzgerald.senate.gov/usattorney/confirm-patfitz.htm

[Beetwasher]

15. Ahh, so the fix is in...

Oh well...

[MoonRiver]

24. I don't know.

Your link states that Sen. Dick Durbin promoted Fitzgerald's appointment. Maybe, * was throwing a bone with Fitzgerald's nomination, and it's coming back to bite his arse.

[Cocoa]

26. maybe he thought he would go against the dem Daley

a reasonable guess, and Fitzgerald may eventually get around to it, which would be ok with me.

[lancdem]

27. I'm glad to hear Durbin endorsed his appointment

I think we should give the guy a chance.

[oasis]

44. Fitzgerald confirmation closely follows 9/11. Bush was not to be denied.

[Cocoa]

17. he's the best

he's the first real U.S. Attorney Chicago has had in my lifetime.

60 people have been convicted so far in the George Ryan scandal, and Ryan just got indicted.

He also nailed the Repug crook mayor of Cicero.

[Beetwasher]

18. He was appointed by the Chimp though

You think he's trustworthy? I guess he could be...I dunno, it sounds too good to be true...

[Cocoa]

21. if anything, he's too aggressive

He wrote an editorial defending the Patriot Act, which I disagreed with.

But, he basically destroyed the GOP in IL, probably for a long time, and he's not done yet.

[Beetwasher]

22. Well, this is encouraging

I'm realizing this is the same guy who went after Gotti, so he can't be all that bad...I just hope he maintains his integrity.

[unfrigginreal]

20. He does owe Bush big time though

Bush went against the party regulars to appoint Fitzgerald as U.S. Atty. I'd feel better if the Bush appointment wasn't part of his past.

[Walt Starr]

29. Thanks, Cocoa, I'm feeling better about this now.

:)

[MoonRiver]

30. Very encouraging news. Maybe some "normal" Repubs want

Rove axed. Cheney next??

[Padraig18]

37. Yes, he's a true DOJ 'professional'

He was endorsed by Dick Durbin, who is 'Mr. Clean', as we Illinoisans know!

Woo hoo! Will KKKarl do the perp walk? :P

[worldgonekrazy]

38. So something real might come of this?

This news is almost too good to be true it seems. Maybe because of the way it came out of nowhere. I guess the CIA and Wilson must really want something done.

[Padraig18]

58. Yes

Fitzgerald is a barracuda in pinstripes--- just ask former Governor Ryan or John 'The Dapper Don' Gotti. :evilgrin:

[Padraig18]

36. He's VERY good!

He has nailed Governor Ryan and 66 others involved in the 'license for bribes' scandal here in IL! He is also the prosecutor who went after the Mob iin NYC, and got Gotti, et al.

You are well and TRULY f*cked now, KKKarl!

Woo hoo! :bounce:

[HFishbine]

39. A tid bit

He contributed to republican Tim Johnson.

http://www.tray.com/cgi-win/indexhtml.exe?MBF=NAME

[worldgonekrazy]

45. You mean Democratic Senator Tim Johnson?

http://johnson.senate.gov/biohome_files/biohome.htm

[HFishbine]

63. According to Politcal Moneyline

The Tim Johnson dondated to is a repulican

http://www.tray.com/cgi-win/x_candpg.exe?DoFn=H0IL15053*2000

It was a $250 contribution in January of 2000.

[Padraig18]

50. MY Congressman!

:puke:

On edit: A very prominent attorney in his own right, however. Could be a friendship thing. :shrug:

[alonso_quijano]

9. link to Yahoo

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031230/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/cia_leak

Rate it a 5, folks.

[barbaraann]

11. ...reports to James Comey, Ashcroft's new assistant

James Comey is a total BFEE tool. Here's just one link to some info:

http://www.talkleft.com/archives/004516.html

[worldgonekrazy]

47. If the CIA wants your ass you are screwed, BFEE tool or no

Honestly, after looking at this Fitzgerald guy I like what I see. Something real may come of this yet.

[Walt Starr]

14. IT'S A FUCKING SHAM!!!

They appointed a Bush appointed U.S. Attorney who reports to a BFEE TOOL!

[barbaraann]

23. Well, DUers figured it out in less than 10 mins. How long will it take

the US media? I estimate, oh, 25 years, if ever.

[displacedtexan]

16. info on fitzgerald from chi trib

NYC terrorism guy...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/chi-0207010174jul01,1,3455999.story

[displacedtexan]

19. prosecuted Gotti

i still think fitzgerald is a GOP plant.

[blm]

32. As much as I want to believe this, it's hard to swallow.

They may just be planning to run out the clock or they have already set up a fallguy who can't hurt them.

[Padraig18]

52. Fitzgerald will not be fooled.

The man is a barracuda in pinstripes, and someone WILL do hard time over this; he is very much a 'let the chips fall where they will' professional! :)

[hobbes159]

25. So, Clinton gets investigated by a rabid partisan right-winger....

But Bush* gets to be investigated by a man that he appointed to his current job? That doesn't raise the appearance of the possibility of impropriety? How is that different from Ashcroft's position? Dems in Congress should be point this out....

[lancdem]

28. That crossed my mind, too

Can you imagine the stink if the special prosecutor who investigated Clinton had been appointed by him? Who knows, maybe Fitzgerald will be thorough and nonpartisan.

[hobbes159]

31. I find it difficult to believe that anyone Bush* would want for the job

would be nonpartisan.....

If he really has nothing to hide, then go ahead and appoint the most dedicated anti-bush person you can, because he won't find anything and there won't be any doubt that it was investigated thoroughly, right? </sarcasm>

Every time this administration stonewalls, whitewashs, or pawns scandels off to some partisan to investigate the more it stinks of their collective guilt....

[Beetwasher]

34. I too am skeptical of this move, however

From what I've been able to determine about Fitzgerald so far, he seems to be an OK pick especially if he maintains his integrity. It's quite possible this move to appoint a special prosecutor and one that at first glance seems above board was done because the CIA is pissed and they pulled strings to make this happen. Remember, the CIA is powerful and they want a REAL investigation.

That being said, the problems as I see them:

In the amount of time it took to get to this point, much of the evidence could have and very well may have been scrubbed, such as WH emails, memos and correspondence.

Fitzgerald has to be wholly uncorruptible to carry out a fair investigation AND he still is supervised by one of JA's henchman.

[unfrigginreal]

33. MSNBC says there will be a live news conference at 2 n/t

[starroute]

35. He does seem to have close Republican ties

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/nation/7460980.htm

"James Comey, the new No. 2 at the Justice Department, has an impressive array of terrorism and violent-crime cases under his belt. But he's perhaps best known these days as the prosecutor who indicted Martha Stewart, transforming the diva of domesticity into the most recognizable face of white-collar corruption.

"Confirmed by the Senate on Tuesday as the deputy attorney general, Comey takes the reins at a Justice Department under fire for its bold antiterrorism tactics and facing questions about its investigation into the leak of a CIA officer's name.

<snip>

"Some accused Comey of targeting Stewart to boost his profile. Not so, said Comey's close friend Patrick Fitzgerald, who's the U.S. attorney in Chicago. . . ."


Aside from that, Fitzgerald seems like a reasonably fair-minded prosecutor. For example, he's been going after former Governor Ryan on those corruption allegations. (Or is it possible somebody wanted to pull him off that case?)


On edit: I just looked up at post #11 and see that his pal Comey is the one he'll be reporting to. That is not reassuring.

[MoonRiver]

40. Fingers crossed.

[worldgonekrazy]

49. Oh that is not good

Hmm...still, I am going to give this one the benefit of the doubt for now.

[unfrigginreal]

41. News Conference On CSPAN now n/t

[SoCalDem]

46. Patrick J. Fitzgerald

Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago
2002 Bill of Rights in Action Benefit
Patrick J. Fitzgerald


PATRICK J. FITZGERALD began serving as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois on September 1, 2001. He was initially appointed on an interim basis by Attorney General John Ashcroft, succeeding former U.S. Attorney Scott R. Lassar. Subsequently, he was nominated by President George W. Bush. The United States Senate confirmed his nomination by unanimous consent on October 23, 2001, and President Bush signed his commission on October 29, 2001.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Fitzgerald served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the United States Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York for thirteen years. He has served as Chief of the Organized Crime-Terrorism Unit since December 1995, in addition to holding other supervisory positions during his tenure in that office.

As U.S. Attorney, Mr. Fitzgerald is the district's top federal law enforcement official. He manages a staff of 250, including 137 Assistant U.S. Attorneys who handle civil litigation, criminal investigations and prosecutions involving public corruption, narcotics trafficking, violent crime, and white-collar fraud.

In New York, Mr. Fitzgerald participated in the prosecution of United States v. Usama Bin Laden, et al., in which 23 defendants were charged with various offenses, including conspiracy to murder United States nationals overseas and the August 1998 bombings of the Untied States embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Seven defendants are in custody in the United States; three defendants are in custody in the United Kingdom; and thirteen defendants are fugitives. Four defendants went on trial in January 2001 in New York, and a jury returned guilty verdicts against all four on May 29, 0201. All four were sentenced to life in prison on October 18, 2001.

Mr. Fitzgerald also participated in the trial of United States v. Omar Adbel Rahman, et al., a nine-month trial in 1995 of twelve defendants who participated in a seditious conspiracy that involved the February 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center and a spring 1993 plot to bomb the United Nations, the FBI Building in New York, and the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels, as well as a conspiracy to assassinate President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. He also supervised the case of United States v. Ramzi Yousef, et al., the 1996 prosecution of three defendants who participated in a conspiracy in the Philippines in late 1994 and early 1995 to detonate bombs simultaneously on twelve American airliners. In 1993, Mr. Fitzgerald participated in the six-month trial of United States v. John Gambino, et al., the prosecution of a Gambino crime family capo and his crew for narcotics trafficking, murder, racketeering, jury tampering, and other charges.

Among Mr. Fitzgerald's awards and honors are the Attorney General's Award for Exceptional Service in 1996 and the Stimson Medal from the Association of the Bar of the City of New York in 1997. In New York, Mr. Fitzgerald's other supervisory posts were National Security Coordinator from February 1996 to January 1999 and Chief of the Narcotics Unit from January to June 1994.

Mr. Fitzgerald, 41, is a native of Brooklyn, NY. He joined the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan in 1998 after three years as a litigation associate at the New York law firm, Christy & Viener. He graduated from Amherst College, Phi Beta Kappa, with a bachelor's degree in economics and mathematics in 1982, and from Harvard Law School in 1985.

[Padraig18]

53. I think Ashcroft just blinked!

After all, there's no evidence that HE'S involved, so maybe he decided it's time to 'fold, instead of hold'. :evilgrin:

[Cocoa]

57. maybe naked boobies are involved

maybe his loathing for naked boobies overcame his love for Bush, so to speak.

[Padraig18]

59. Asscraft doesn't 'have a dog in the fight', so to speak.

I think he knows someone is gonna do hard time, and is doping everything he can to distance himself from the odium that will attach. :)

[MoonRiver]

60. :-) :-) :-)

I'm guessing it's Rove. :D

[Padraig18]

64. Wouldn't you just LOVE to see KKKarl do 'the perp walk'

The idea of him in an orange jumpsuit stenciled "Federal Inmate" brings me close to orgasm! :evilgrin:

[ignatius]

65. Why die he leave New York? Very odd, the timing, right before

9-11-01. I don't know if that is significant, just a bit of a red flag. I am going to google his NY law firm to sniff around.

[tom_paine]

42. The evidence has already been purged

Neat how the Busheviks got and went through the returned questionaires from their henchpersona FIRST.

Please, this stinks like a Soviet "investigation".

And I'm sure will yield the same results.

"Comrades! Our Glorious Leader's name has been CLEARED!"

It seems like so long ago that America was truly free, though I am glad the Busheviks haven't started the ultimate phase of their program yet, allowing me to sort of pretend that I still live in a Free Country.

[htuttle]

48. Maybe....maybe not...

That's what I've been thinking about since I heard this.

On the one hand, the scenario you describe is 100% standard Bushevik behavior.

On the other hand, it's going to be hard to get Fitzgerald to come out and say, "I can't figure out who leaked." A whole slew of journalists KNOW who leaked the Plame information to them. Fitzgerald isn't going to easily be able to put some other person forward as the fall guy when they know that some journalists know who it is. Same goes for coming up with noone.

So, I'm not sure...

[Imajika]

43. My guess...

... is that Ashcroft stayed on long enough to see if this investigation would amount to much. He likely would not have recused himself if significant damage control would have been needed.

So Ashcroft knows there is no real evidence of anything pointing to any White House big shots and/or helped cover up anything that could have posed any danger to the Bush administration, then resigns knowing that when the investigation turns up little to nothing he can say he isn't stonewalling or limiting the investigation because he had recused himself.

Maybe a little tin foil hatish, which I am not known for, but that is my first guess.

I could be totally wrong though, but I expect absolutely nothing to come from this CIA Leak Investigation.

Imajika

[worldgonekrazy]

51. Possible, but maybe Ashcroft was blackmailed by the CIA

"Let this Fitzgerald guy investigate the leak or we go public with that embarassing bit of info you know we have on you"

[Beetwasher]

54. Unfortunately, you may be right

Ashcroft had plenty of time to go through and vet all the evidence, all the questionaires and coach all the witnesses. Anything incriminating like memos, emails etc. had plenty of time to be scrubbed and dissappeared or declared top secret nat'l security of the highest level.

So, what we might have is a situation where they actually can appoint a straight up guy who will investigate thoroughly, but he'll have nothing to find and his case may consist of mere hearsay and "he said she said". IOW, the word of people in the admin. vs. the word of either people in the CIA or reporters. Unfortunately, that's not enough to prosecute anyone.

[maddezmom]

55. on CSPAN, too

:) just tuned in.

[MoonRiver]

56. Creepy.

Comey looks like a young Ashcroft! :puke:

[Virginian]

61. After six months...?

Why didn't he do that a long time ago?

Will this ever move forward?
Bush as much as told the reporters involved that they had better not divulge the source when he said 'it would probably never be solved because reporters never divulge their sources'.

To get around this, "Reporter_A" tells "Reporter_B" the identity of the senior White House officials who leaked the information.
"Reporter_B" reports on the leak, but can keep the identity of "Reporter_A" confidential.

I believe there were possibly six "Reporter_A"s who were called by the senior White House officials. The problem here is that they probably all work for Faux News or else the leaks wouldn't have been given to them. They might think protecting the administration is more important than protecting a CIA operation that was keeping us safe from rogue nuclear weapons.

Do I feel any safer than two years ago? Not when this White House feels it is OK to expose a covert operation this important to our national security for their personal political revenge.

Who would have ever thought anyone that close to the seat of power would be so irresponsibly partisan to even consider compromising national security for the politics of personal destruction. Those people have done damage that leaves us all exposed to a higher terror threat. They have to be removed from access to any more information immediately. Leaving them in place for the past six months may have given them the opportunity to pass along more secrets to our enemies. They may not be over zealous partisans, they may actually be working for our enemies.

This is where the Patriot act might have been used effectively.

[cthrumatrix]

62. Clearly, they are hiding....let's see the media "rip into this meatbone"

then again they have proven to be nothing but a subservient "lapdog"...who will do nothing w/o his masters permission