Fitzgerald: Full Report on Investigation Will Not Be Made Public

[kurth]

Amid the flurry of activity out of Patrick Fitzgerald's office today came a letter sent to four Democratic House members that makes clear that the special prosecutor has no plans to make a full report on his investigation available either to the general public or to Congress.

Fitzgerald's missive -- dated today -- comes in in response to a letter sent by Reps. John Conyers (D-Mich.), Jane Harman (D-Calif.), Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) and Rush Holt (D-N.J.) asking "whether, as Special Counsel, I will be issuing a public report detailing the conduct and results of the grand jury investigation I have conducted."

Fitzgerald writes that unlike Kenneth Starr, who produced the now infamous "Starr Report" on President Bill Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky, his appointment is not governed by the Independent Counsel statute, which expired in 1999. "It is my judgment that there is no legal authority to issue a public report in the Special Counsel matter," Fitzgerald writes.

He also dismisses the request by the four lawmakers to make an official report to Congress on the matter, noting that he is not "permitted to disclose any grand jury material except in strict compliance with the provisions of Rule 6(e)." He added: "I further appreciate that this investigation and any prosecution that might result must be conducted free from any partisan, political influence. I can assure you that it has been so conducted to date and we will continue to conduct ourselves in that manner."

http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/thefix/

[deadparrot]

1. He truly is awesome.

It's so rare these days that someone is so detatched from partisan politics.

[still_one]

2. it is NOT awesome, congress does have authority

especially when a war was started based on a lie, which is what this case is all about