CIA Leak Prosecutor Back on the Hunt

[Ghost in the Machine]

CIA Leak Prosecutor Back on the Hunt
Published: 2/22/08, 3:45 AM EDT
By MIKE ROBINSON

CHICAGO (AP) - When he went looking for a new federal prosecutor for this corruption-plagued city, then-Sen. Peter Fitzgerald focused on one thing.

"I felt it was necessary to bring a new sheriff into town," he said. "I didn't care if he was from Chicago or out of town but someone absolutely independent of the powers that be in Chicago." He got what he bargained for - by any yardstick.


These days, Fitzgerald is back in his Chicago office, and some members of Illinois' political elite are feeling the heat.

A major trial due to get under way March 3 will focus on an alleged effort to shake down money from management firms seeking business from the $30 billion fund that pays the pensions of downstate and suburban teachers.

The trial could be explosive because the defendant - real estate and fast food entrepreneur Antoin "Tony" Rezko - was a key contributor to Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Sen. Barack Obama.

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