Chicago's prosecutor mediocre? Hardly, FBI says

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Chicago's prosecutor mediocre? Hardly, FBI says

March 21, 2007
BY NATASHA KORECKI Federal Courts Reporter
Reports revealed Tuesday that a Justice Department aide rated Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald as "mediocre" as it charted out which prosecutors to fire. It came as a surprise to those who work with Fitzgerald.

"My director to this day will tell you he is the best U.S. attorney in the country, bar none," said Chicago's FBI chief Robert Grant. "No one has ever questioned Patrick Fitzgerald's integrity, I'll tell you that much."

The rating came just as Fitzgerald's efforts intensified in the investigation that recently led to the conviction of Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin in recent remarks said he'd block any move to fire Fitzgerald. "If they try in any way to threaten or endanger his ability to serve this country, they're in for a fight," Durbin said.

more:http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/305679,CST-NWS-prosbox21.article

Connecting dots and Fitzgerald's fall
Published March 21, 2007


How many conversations did Karl Rove--the political Rasputin of the Bush White House--have with top Illinois Republicans about U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald?

Ten? Fifty? None?

Did Rove speak directly to Big Bob Kjellander, whom Rove engineered into the job of treasurer of the Republican National Committee?

Answers might tell us why Fitzgerald, honored in 2002 as one of the top prosecutors in the Justice Department--and the fed most feared by the bipartisan political Combine that runs Illinois--was abruptly downgraded in March 2005.

According to news reports this week, Fitzgerald was downgraded in a 2005 Justice Department memo sent to the White House and was listed among federal prosecutors who "had not distinguished themselves."

more:http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-0703210070mar21,1,4717359.column?track=rss