A question for Plame buffs

[Goldmund]

Since I don't know nearly as much about it as some of you, let me ask a simple question:

I've noticed y'all trust this Fitzgerald guy. Why?

[wtmusic]

1. Fitz is apolitical

(according to his college roomate) and is known for being extremely thorough. No stone unturned.

[Goldmund]

2. But didn't Bush appoint him?

[DisassemblingHisLies]

3. Nixon's attorney general appointed Archibald Cox.

Just as Bush's attorney general, Ashcroft, appointed Fitzgerald.

[Goldmund]

5. Good point

But that was Nixon. He is to this bunch what DOS is to Win XP. :D

[TacticalPeek]

8. You mean faster, cheaper and more reliable?

:)

IIRC, the career head of the DOJ criminal division selected Fitzgerald and Ashcroft had to go along.

[wtmusic]

4. Ashcroft did

about the only thing he's done right.

[Goldmund]

7. I agree it appears that Fitz is really doing this well

But does this not raise some flags of suspicion -- appointing a guy who wouldn't hesitate to bring about their own destruction isn't really the Bushies' MO, is it? :)

[wtmusic]

15. As usual, good point Goldmund

It is a bit mystifying. Possibly they thought the investigation would go nowhere, or the ever-pious Mr. Ashcroft had actually had enough of this kind of deceit from the neocons (although his core beliefs are twisted, he's never been the "gutter politics" sort of player).

[tiptoe]

13. "apolitical"?...an "ambitious Republican"...NOT "outside the government"??

John Dean might disagree (Friday, Feb. 11, 2005):

http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20050211.html

...the Plame matter is being handled by a special counsel (i.e. instead of an "Independent Counsel"). When the IC law expired in 1999, the Justice Department recognized that it still had to deal with conflicts of interest. To do so, it drafted extensive regulations to govern the selection, operations, and funding of "special counsels."

Unfortunately, the Bush Administration is ignoring those regulations. It is entitled to repeal them - but it ought not simply to pretend they do not exist.

The regulations state: "The Special Counsel shall be selected from outside the United States Government." However, the Plame Special Counsel, Patrick Fitzgerald, was - and still is - the U.S. Attorney from the Northern District of Illinois.

The regulations also state that "Special Counsels shall agree that their responsibilities as Special Counsel shall take first precedence in their professional lives, and that it may be necessary to devote their full time to the investigation, depending on its complexity and the stage of the investigation." But Fitzgerald remains in his U.S. Attorney position - a position that is typically a very demanding full-time job.

Meanwhile, it's not clear if Fitzgerald's funding is proper, either...
<snip>

The result of all this is that, as a result of a breach of regulations, Patrick Fitzgerald serves in an unsupervised position with authority equal to that of the Attorney General himself - yet he is not subject to the restraints that fall upon an Attorney General...
<snip>

Bush's Justice Department Is Not Playing By Its Own Rules

Those Justice Department regulations had a purpose, and it was to avoid conflicts of interest and divided loyalties. Now, we are stuck with both...
<snip>

...if an IC were on the job, we would know by now (Feb. 11, 2005) who, exactly, leaked Plame's identity. Novak apparently is not a target; other reporters (with peripheral knowledge) have been ordered to testify. Meanwhile, Administration officials have -reportedly, at least - been told to cooperate.

So why isn't the case solved? Could it be because Fitzgerald - burdened with ambition and reluctant to bite the hand that still feeds him - doesn't want to solve it?

[wtmusic]

14. Read for yourself

Dean's take:

"The new head of the investigation, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, is a high profile, well-respected U.S. Attorney, who runs one of the more important offices in the country, Chicago's. Fitzgerald is also a close friend of Deputy Attorney General James Comey, who announced his appointment. It seems unlikely that Fitzgerald was brought in merely to kill the case."

<>

"Not only does none of this activity indicate an investigation that is being scuttled, but it clearly implies something noteworthy has happened in the investigation."

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Jan04/Dean0108.htm

and welcome to DU tiptoe!

:bounce: :toast: :bounce:

[Birthmark]

6. Well, if we can't trust him, the gig is up, innit?

Then again, he didn't have to pursue the reporters the way he has - asking that Miller NOT be allowed home detention, for example. That's a good sign as far as it goes, no?

[Goldmund]

9. Definitely

One of the reasons I'm asking the question is that I'm pretty stunned that this Admin has appointed somebody like what he seems to be like. They have done much more brazen and crooked things, and never such a careless thing, a to appoint a biased prosecutor when their tracks aren't covered.

[madrchsod]

12. fuck miller...she doesn`t deserve to be called a reporter

http://noquarter.typepad.com/my_weblog/2005/07/judith_miller_a.html
NO QUARTER: JUDITH MILLER AND JUST DESSERTS

[shraby]

10. Actually Ashcroft's deputy appointed

Fitzgerald because Ashcroft recused himself. Fitz is a straight shooter and goes after the perps like a good prosecutor should.

[madrchsod]

11. he has gone after the republican and democrat

corruption here in illinois. he went after a saudi "charity" untill the whitehouse tipped the saudi`s off to an inpending bust.he`s busted a big time street gang in chicago-got the gambino family hoods and threw the first trade center bombers in prison. he is relentless in pursut of the bad guys. he is non political and does not registor for any party. if anyone can get to the bottom of the cesspool it will be him.

[Me.]

16. This Article Provides Some Insight

as to why:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A55560-2005Feb1?language=printer