Fredo Finally Gives U.S. Attorney(Fitz) a Good Evaluation By Al Kamen / WaPo

[Demeter]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701733.html?referrer=email&referrer=email





Fredo Finally Gives U.S. Attorney a Good Evaluation

By Al Kamen
Wednesday, July 18, 2007; A17



In the Justice Department's Great Hall (the very room where giant, blue drapes covered the underdressed statuary during John Ashcroft's tenure as attorney general), an array of prosecutors, securities regulators and FBI honchos gathered yesterday to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the President's Corporate Fraud Task Force.

Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who famously prosecuted former vice presidential aide Scooter Libby, was chatting with a pair of reporters about his upcoming appearance on the National Public Radio program "Wait Wait . . . Don't Tell Me!" when none other than Attorney General Alberto "Fredo" Gonzales appeared at his side.

"Good job," Gonzales said, extending his hand to Fitzgerald. Must have been thinking of Fitzgerald's office's successful prosecution last week of media mogul Conrad Black for fraud, obstruction, etc. Fitzgerald, taken aback, didn't say much in response, our colleague Carrie Johnson reports.

Loop Fans may recall that a former Gonzales aide had placed Fitzgerald's name on a list of prosecutors who had "not distinguished themselves" in March 2005, just after Fitzgerald had indicted former GOP Illinois governor George Ryan and as he was investigating the leak of the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame.
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Red Lawn

Speaking of Gonzales, old-timers covering the White House often compare its vaunted secrecy to that of the Kremlin in Soviet days, when reporters would try to figure out who was in or who was gulag-bound by noting how far each official stood from the top guy on the podium at Moscow's annual May Day parade.

So President Bush's failure to acknowledge the presence of his attorney general at Sunday's White House Tee Ball game had reporters buzzing.

Bush, in pregame remarks, acknowledged the VIPs there: "I do want to thank John Warner, Senator John Warner, from the great state of Virginia, and his family, for joining us," Bush said. "Proud you're here, Senator. I see Alphonso Jackson and Dirk Kempthorne, of my Cabinet, who have joined us. I'm proud you all are here."

Gonzales, who was listed on the White House info sheet given to reporters, was sitting in button-down shirt and dark sunglasses just behind Jackson and Kempthorne.

Was Bush not "proud" he was there? The Kremlinologists wondered.
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And from the gift that keeps on giving . . . FEMA, after paying $12.5 million in storage fees, announced Monday that it is throwing away the last 42,000 tons of ice it purchased after Hurricane Katrina struck Aug. 29, 2005.

FEMA bought 112,000 tons in all for $24 million, and kept the unused portions for future use, but no major hurricanes hit since 2005. Now it's going to pay $3.4 million to melt what's left.

FEMA said it didn't know the shelf life for ice; it just buys the stuff. The industry assumes one year, FEMA said, and it had to "consider the health risks" of using its stockpile. In any event, after searing news reports that FEMA sent truckloads of ice after Katrina on odysseys around the country because it could not keep track of them -- and eventually donated some to zoos for use by polar bears and other cold-weather animals -- FEMA is no longer in the business of buying ice for disasters. It will now rely on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

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[iconoclastic cat]

1. I've always taken care of you, Fredo. nt