Patrick Fitzgerald Agrees To Stay As US Attorney: Durbin

[BlueJessamine]

Patrick Fitzgerald Agrees To Stay As US Attorney: Durbin

CHICAGO (AP) -- Corruption-busting prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has agreed to stay on as U.S. attorney in Chicago, U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin said Monday.

"We are fortunate Patrick Fitzgerald has agreed to continue his service as U.S. attorney in the Northern District," Durbin said in a letter to Illinois congressmen.

The announcement came as no surprise, with Durbin saying last November he would recommend another term if Fitzgerald wanted it.

In nominating a U.S. attorney, the president traditionally chooses a candidate recommended by the senior senator of the president's party.

Fitzgerald got the job on the recommendation of former U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald -- a Republican and no relation. But his track record of bringing corruption cases against former Govs. George Ryan, Rod Blagojevich and other political figures has made him popular with many Democrats and independents as well.

Fitzgerald has always said that he is a political independent.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/27/patrick-fitzgerald-agrees_n_191867.html

[ThirdWorldJohn]

1. I feel he dropped the ball in the Plame Investigation

Tactics, judgment criticized

His prosecution of Libby has come under constant scrutiny for the tactics and judgment he used.

Neither man was a household name before their intersection in the leak investigation.

Today, they are inextricably linked: Libby became the sole target of special counsel Fitzgerald, a prosecutor given an unusual degree of power to discover who provided CIA operative Plame's name to Chicago Sun-Times columnist Robert Novak.

In the end, no one was charged with leaking her name to Novak. Libby was accused, however, of lying to a grand jury and federal agents by telling them he learned of Plame's status as a CIA operative from reporters when, in fact, he was confidentially providing that information to the press.

To indict Libby, Fitzgerald had to know that he had provided Plame's name to reporters. Former New York Times reporter Judith Miller was jailed for 85 days before she revealed Libby as her source. Former Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper was days from jail when he agreed to disclose that Libby gave him Plame's name.

Mark Corallo was the top Justice Department spokesman when Fitzgerald was named special counsel. He recalls being taken aback by the decision to subpoena and then jail reporters until they revealed their sources.

"There has always been a great respect for reporters privilege ," said Corallo, whose public relations firm now represents Libby.

But Fitzgerald brushed aside long-standing guidelines at Justice to get his man, Corallo said.

Meanwhile, Fitzgerald failed to charge anyone with the original crime he was supposed to investigate: the leak of Plame's name.

"This was not about the Bush administration," Corallo said. "This was about Patrick Fitzgerald. There were no checks on his authority. There was no one who could say no to him."

http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/newsletter/chi-patrick-fitzgerald-profile,0,4965233.story?page=2

I agree with Corallo and I hope Fitzgerald is not named as a special prosecutor. I don't trust him.

[murielm99]

2. I don't trust him either.

He can call himself an independent all he wants: he is a republican, who was recommended for his position by a republican senator.

He blew the Plame investigation.

His arrest of Blago was suspiciously timed. It came at a time that would take some of the luster from the Obama victory. It came too early, if what Fitz was saying was true. Why not wait for someone to take the bait and offer to pay off Blago for the Senate seat? He could have caught two crooks for the price of one, if the allegations were true. And why did he need another ninety days, when the Blago investigation and the wiretaps have been ongoing for several years?

Fitz has AGREED to stay on? How would Obama look if he tried to replace him? It would look like he was trying to cover up corruption in his home state. It might look like he knew his erstwhile Senate seat was up for sale. I think that may have been part of what the republicans were trying to imply with Blago's premature arrest in the first place.

Blago is no innocent. But what is Fitz?

[winyanstaz]

3. Sorry but he didn't do squat on Plame, ...

or anything else he was investigating the Bush cartel for. Time to get someone that will do the dang job.