Did Fitzgerald arrest Blagojevich before he had a solid case ?

[Blarch]

Poll question: Did Fitzgerald arrest Blagojevich before he had a solid case ?

Did Fitzgerald arrest Blagojevich before he had a solid case ?

[opihimoimoi]

1. apparently....he blew it.....

[HowHasItComeToThis]

3. I AM CONECTING THIS WITH THE ATTORNEY FIRINGS

THINK ABOUT NEW MEXICO GOVERNOR

[stillcool]

21. and Governor Siegelman...

[elocs]

2. Why didn't he arrest him AFTER he sold the Senate seat

rather than just talking about it?

[karynnj]

36. Exactly - and it would also give just cause not to seat whoever

bought the seat. There would be 2 guilty parties.

[rsmith6621]

4. I Have Not Been a Fan of Fitzmas since he stopped....

.......with Libby and didn't pursue Darth and My Pet Goat boy.

[KansDem]

5. Yeah, I remember then. We were all waiting for him to question Rove under oath...

We kept telling ourselves, "He's meticulous! He's methodical! He's getting his ducks in a row! Any day now, he'll subpoena Rove and it's all over!"

We're still waiting...

[Cha]

6. I don't know..we'll find

out though.

[Ian David]

7. I would say we're taking this poll before we have a solid case against Fitzgerald. n/t

[elleng]

8. Dumb question!

How would anyone know?

[uponit7771]

26. Fitz had to get a 90 day extension (which is unconstitutional) to "gather evidence"

[elleng]

39. 'Unconstitutional?'

Where'd THAT come from???

[IndianaJones]

9. Fitz is an idiot. nt.

[KoKo]

16. No...lots of us were "idiots" for believing in him with all the "Fitzmas Hype"

that went on out there. We shoulda' known we were hoodwinked when all that glowing "Fitzmas Crap" was all over the blogosphere. :-( It was a PR MACHINE blowing Fitz in our faces so we would (((believe))) (((believe))) against our better instincts and what we'd already lived through.

[H2O Man]

10. no

[Blarch]

14. Serious question.

When the indictment comes, do you think he will be charged with trying to sell Obama's seat ?

I don't think there is a chance in hell.

[H2O Man]

34. Fair question.

I think that there will be at least one count relating to activities associated with the seat in question.

[truthisfreedom]

11. I think Fitz is having second thoughts. Blag SEEMED to be selling the Senate seat, but...

Fitz may have needed to bounce it off a few more prosecutors to be sure he could convict on this phone tap evidence.

[IsItJustMe]

12. Talking smack isn't against the law. If it were, everbody here would be in jail.

[leftstreet]

13. LOL really! DU fund drive for bail money

:D

[KoKo]

15. That "Fitzmas Thing" sort of "crashed and burned." I have little faith in Fitz

for "mas" or otherwise, these days. :-(

[yodermon]

17. What would have happened had he NOT arrested Blago?

Where would be now? What would the repercussions have been had Fitz held his cards until, say, April to indict Blago?

[jberryhill]

33. Anybody's Guess - But Fitz is not a "pre-crime" agent of "Minority Report" /nt

[Jennicut]

18. Fitz was forced to as the Chicago Tribune was gonna go public with the info on Blago

so he may have arrested him before he wanted to?

[stillcool]

22. If the Tribune was going to go public..

he would have no reason for the arrest. The only reason why he arrested him was supposedly because of the possible future event not yet real 'sale' of the Senate seat.

[karynnj]

35. This never made any sense

I can see that a "sting" might have to be reeled in early if the media were going to report it - because some of the culprits would go into hiding, leave the state etc and the operatives could be placed at an unjustified risk. Here, there was none of that - the Governor was and is a public figure and he was going nowhere. The one risk - that he had the power to appoint a US Senator - was obviously not averted by the arrest.

What was the Chicago Tribune supposedly going to print, did it and how could or would it have affected the situation? It was not front page news that Blago was a sleaze - that was already kind of known.

[Warren Stupidity]

19. Obviously as he has requested an extension.

The SUPERFITZ has SUPERF'D the case again.

[snowbear]

20. Fitzgerald is losing it.. Look what else he did.......

From Smokinggun.com

Pat Fitzgerald Boots One

U.S. Attorney accidentally releases names of sources in fraud case

JANUARY 7 -- In a remarkable screw-up, a Department of Justice official today accidentally distributed to the media a document containing the names of nearly 20 confidential witnesses interviewed during a federal probe targeting the operators of a fraudulent investment scheme. In announcing felony charges against two men for their roles in an alleged $15 million Ponziesque swindle, the spokesman for Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald (he of Rod Blagojevich- and Scooter Libby-prosecuting fame) e-mailed reporters a 62-page U.S. District Court complaint filed against John Walsh and Charles Martin, principals of the now-defunct One World Capital Group. Included in the document was a one-page key that identified by name sources referred to in the complaint only by monikers such as "Employee A," "Customer D," or "Individual F." The inadvertent disclosure of the sources--former One World employees, customers, and "other" individuals who spoke with FBI and IRS agents--caused Fitzgerald spokesman Randall Samborn to send an urgent follow-up email asking journalists to destroy the complaint due to the "non-public information disclosing the identities of persons not named in the affidavit." A copy of the source key, which we've strategically blurred, can be found here. (2 pages)

Continued: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0107091oops1.html

....

[uponit7771]

27. Unnn, I'd have to hear this coming out of Fitz's mouth...this is a MAJOR fuck up

[Mister Ed]

23. Is Blago under arrest? I hadn't heard about that. n/t

[acmavm]

24. Yeah, he did the same thing Blago did. Shot off his big mouth, did a lot

of talking, and then when you get right down to is, there's nothing there.

He's full of shit. He's a republican and I truly believe he played his part masterfully for the bush** admin in regard to the Plame investigation. Couldn't have gone better (for Cheney & the rest of 'em).

[uponit7771]

25. YES!! I no longer trust Fitz and DO think this was a Bush admin ploy to seat less Dem senators

[JI7]

28. probably, but in the end it might help Democrats more

assuming Blago was going to sell the Senate Seat and made the appointment first then Fitz might have been able to make a connection .

but then the person who he appointed would be caught up in the mess also and part of the scandal.and imagine what the Senate Democrats would be doing in that case .

what is happening now isn't as bad as it could have been. nobody thinks Burris is involved in the scandal and at worst it was poor judgement in accepting the appointment. but even accepting it people don't think he was involved in the scandal.

[karynnj]

37. The Senate may not have been involved

Assume the seat was sold - the seller and the buyer would be indicted. That is stronger than what happened and the likelihood is that Blago would have to step down - and a new appointment would be made.

Even if I am wrong - and Blago didn't step down - the Senate has real cause (unlike with Burris) to reject the nominee, who would himself be tainted.

[MoonRiver]

29. What do Fitzgerald, Reid and a gorilla have in common?

They all enjoy thumping their chests, stomping their feet and barring their teeth in exaggerated displays of aggression, which they have no intention of following up on.

[JI7]

30. he looks clueless in that pic

[leftynyc]

31. We can't really know

As none of us has seen the evidence. That doesn't mean it's not there.

[goodhue]

32. The Senate Seat was not the main charge in the complaint, but came last in long litany

The stuff involving hospital, wrigley field etc was solid enough

[stillcool]

38. Did the hospital get the funding?

Did the person get fired from the editorial board? The Senate Seat was the only impetus for Fitzgerald's premature arrest of Blago, as he stated clearly in his press conference.

[NashVegas]

40. Yep. He Thought Blago Was Going To Go Easy, Like Spitzer

And he was incorrect.

If Spitzer had held firm, not only is there a chance his case may have fallen apart on technicality, but it might have exposed some seriously funky business in the Justice Dept.