No sad farewell to Patrick Fitzgerald here. Nothing good the man did in his years as U.S. attorney in Chicago and assistant U.S. attorney in New York could ever make up for the appalling miscarriage of justice he perpetrated against Scooter Libby.
In case anyone has forgotten, Mr. F. went after Mr. Libby relentlessly, with what can only be described as a vengeance, as special prosecutor in the Valerie Plame case. NOT for “leaking” the lady’s name and status as a CIA covert “operative” to Robert Novak. Fitz couldn’t get Scooter for that because he knew perfectly well that the leak came from then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. And because he knew perfectly well that he didn’t have a case to make on a violation of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act – which is why Armitage was never charged with anything.
But hey, a special prosecutor’s gotta do what a special prosecutor’s gotta do: indict someone for something. In this case, the anointed ham sandwich was Scooter Libby, indicted and then convicted for perjury and obstruction of justice — the “crime” of giving investigators an account of a conversation he’d had years earlier with Tim Russert that differed from Russert’s recollection.
Putting away Rod Blagojevich and a bunch of New York Mafiosi won’t make up for that. Nor will the conviction of the blind sheik.
So, as Mr. Fitzgerald goes off to a lucrative future in a fancy law firm, or even possibly to a status stint as FBI director, we should bid him goodbye and good riddance.
If it was such an "appalling miscarriage of justice," then why didn't Bush pardon Libby, as Cheney strenuously urged, instead of just commute the sentence? n nThe perjury/obstruction trap has become the cudgel of choice for prosecutors who can't get a conviction for the core criminality. Like plea bargaining, it cheapens justice. n nAs for the Javert Award, I think Ken Starr would at least tie Fitzgerald. n
President Bush didn't pardon Libby because by the end of his second term he was a tired man, understandably disgusted by the torrents of abuse he had had to endure, and hesitant to invite more by taking such a controversial action, however warranted. Whether it was Libby, C.I.A. interrogators, or Justice Department lawyers advocating waterboarding as a valid tool, Dick Cheney has always been a far more stalwart defender of Bush administration anti-terror polices. Mr. Cheney, at the time a very sick man needing a new heart, nevertheless stood up and took the hit in defense of those who were obliged to do the dirty work in the war on terror. His anger at President Bush is well-justified. n nJust another of the many reasons we owe the former Vice-President so much.
we definitely owe the former vice-president quite a bit…….and Bush came to understand what that person was due and in Bush's second term he stopped allowing that person to do much at all and probably would have accepted his resignation when he accepted that of the VP's buddy and mentor Rumsfeld's prior to the second term. n nthey weakened the country and tarnished our reputation.
ibjack, there is no question that President Clinton perjured himself on one or more occassions during deposition. That's unacceptable for any lawyer, and unacceptable in the chief law enforcement officer of the United States. Pursuing that evidence hardly makes Mr. Star a candidate for the Javert award.
I completely agree about Fitzgerald. He should be in shackles wearing an orange jump suit. Not only did he orchestrate a miscarriage of justice but engaged in prosecutorial misconduct if there ever was. The fact that Bush commuted his sentence rather than pardoned him puts him, in my opinion, in the same league as Fitzgerald. Was a very strong Bush supporter initially. Now, I hope I never see or hear of the guy again.
A ludicrous pile of invective. Did Dector hector the special prosecutor who sent Haldemann and Erlichman to trial while Niixon skated? n nIt's much the same here. Libby took the fall for his boss and others. Whatever horse hockey Dector is pushing, there was for dang sure a campaign to screw over Plame, using dangerous and illegal means, and it came out the office of the VP. n nIt's a shame that the person responsible was allowed to get into a wheelchair and roll his disgraceful self out of town.