Patrick Fitzgerald left undefended by Mukasey

[babylonsister]

Fitzgerald left undefended by Mukasey
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Posted July 10, 2008 4:55 PM

Fitzgerald

Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald answers questions at a news conference at the Department of Justice in 2005 in which he announced that Lewis "Scooter" Libby was indicted on five counts for crimes in the CIA inquiry leak. (Chicago Tribune photo by Pete Souza)
The Swamp

by Andrew Zajac


Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has been lauded as the ultimate call'em-as-I-see'em prosecutor for his relentless pursuit of political corruption in Illinois and, on the national stage, for his investigation of the CIA leak case, which resulted in the perjury conviction of Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, Scooter Libby.

But Attorney General Michael Mukasey (pictured right) didn't sound like a member of the Fitzgerald fan club yesterday when he was asked by Pennsylvania Republican Arlen Specter about the jailing of former New York Times reporter Judith Miller for refusing to cough up her sources to Fitzgerald during the leak investigation.

While Mukasey didn't directly criticize Fitzgerald, he certainly managed to avoid defending the hard line the prosecutor took on Miller's unwillingness to cooperate.

Here's yesterday's exchange between Mukasey and Specter. (The legislation referred to is for a federal shield law that would sharply limit the circumstances under which the government could force reporters to give up information on confidential sources. It is opposed by the Justice Department.)

more...

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/07/fitzgerald_criticized_by_mukas.html

[Muttocracy]

1. video of that hearing has LOTS of interesting bits on many topics

Feingold ?s on how someone who worked for his staff was kept from a DoJ job

Schumer ?s on Siegelman and Rove (Schumer got enraged by the end)

Leahy ?s on anthrax (thread elsewhere on DU about that)

and much much more! :D

rtsp://video1.c-span.org/15days/e070908_mukasey.rm


edit to add - Cardin on DoJ plans on preventing election fraud, voter intimidation/misinformation etc.

[babylonsister]

2. Thanks for the link, Joe. This article by Robert Parry points out how

angry Schumer was. That's really 'unfortunate' considering he's responsible for Mukasey getting hired.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x370475

[Muttocracy]

3. I remember that he was one of the ones who voted for him.

I don't recall if there were other options at that point for AG, or if we could have gotten anyone better from Bush's wish list.

Anyone have a link to who voted which was on Mukasey? Would be interesting to compare to how they questioned him yesterday.

[babylonsister]

4. Schumer and Feinstein went to bat for Mukasey, and we all

figured it was a huge mistake. Being right now doesn't help, does it.

[Muttocracy]

6. makes Feinstein's outrage yesterday in the same boat then. nt

[Imagevision]

5. Patrick Fitzgerald, I can't think of a better attorney general for Obama...

[DailyGrind51]

7. Patrick Fitzgerald is the best thing that happened to Illinois!

He put away our former Republican Governor for selling drivers' licenses for bribes, a politically connected mobster for fraudulently obtaining $100 million in city minority contracts, personal friends of Mayor Daley for violating a law against patronage hiring, and several local mob bosses. The guy is a bi-partisan prosecutor.

[babylonsister]

8. Yes, politically he's untouchable. That's why I like him so much. Too

bad his 'boss' has so little respect. Then again, Mukasey is up to his eyeballs in politics. I wonder what it took for him to be a Gonzo replica?

[DailyGrind51]

10. If Fitzgerald succeeds in cleaning Illinois' cess pool of corruption,

even a little, I will be grateful. You can't tell our Republicans from our Democrats because they both feed from the same trough!

[babylonsister]

11. He already has, correct? Didn't he bring down a mayor or governor?

Imagine him on a national stage. An honest civil servant-:wow:!

[DailyGrind51]

15. He has only scratched the surface!

His main target is the Daley Machine and his stooge Tod Stroger. Fitzgerald has been taking down their lieutenants and mob liaisons, I guess, in the hope of getting a few to turn State's evidence for a reduced sentence. My money is on Gov. Blagojevich as his next "Public Official A". Convicted and sentenced former Governor George Ryan, was his last "P.O.A."!

I would like to see Patrick Fitzgerald as Attorney General in Obama's administration, but I wish he would clean up "our" mess in Illinois first!

[Muttocracy]

12. that's impressive. nt

[malaise]

9. K & R

Thanks for the links

[babylonsister]

13. A kick for our former savior? Remember? nt

[Supersedeas]

14. Mukasey is showing his political muster -- what was Shumer thinking?

[KharmaTrain]

16. Fitz Is Supposedly Chomping At The Bits

There was a report I read that said that Fitz has wanted to testify in front of the House Judiciary committee and has been prohibited by Mukasey. The revelations by McClelland all but pointed to where the "sand" was being thrown in his eyes and while he may not be directly involved in a future prosecution that he would provide whatever assistance he could for a future look. Also, you gotta think he feels burned by a whole bunch of these regime "officials"...specifically Karl Rove

Mucko was hired to bury the bodies and that's what he's doing. While Gonzo was dangerous because he was so inept, Mucko is a slick Wall Street lawyer...a lot more dangerous as he's surely paving the way for this regime to get away with their crimes.