Mukasey Taps Patrick Fitzgerald to Advise US Attys

[babylonsister]

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2008/01/andrew_zajac_more_evidence_tha.html

Mukasey taps Fitzgerald for AG advisory post

Andrew Zajac

More evidence that new Attorney General Michael Mukasey is running a more transparent and inclusive shop than his predecessors John Ashcroft and, especially, Alberto Gonzales:

Mukasey announced today that he's appointing Chicago federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald to the Attorney General's advisory committee of U.S. attorneys.

Fitzgerald was on the committee from 2001 until 2005, but his appointment to it preceded his service as special prosecutor in the Valerie Plame CIA leak investigation.

Fitzgerald's probing in that case led to the perjury conviction of Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff Scooter Libby and earned the prosecutor the lasting enmity of the White House.

Gonzales, a former White House counsel, who as attorney general was sharply criticized for lack of independence from President Bush, did not re-appoint Fitzgerald to the advisory panel, which counsels the attorney general on law enforcement issues.

Mukasey still has a sticky call to make connected to the Plame case. He has to decide whether to allow Congress to have transcripts of investigators' interviews with Bush, Cheney and former White House senior advisor Karl Rove.

Fitzgerald's appointment comes on the heels of yesterday's announcement by Mukasey that the Justice Department will open a criminal investigation -- to be headed by a career prosecutor from outside Main Justice -- into the CIA's destruction of videotaped interrogations of terrorism suspects.

No telling how that inquiry will shake out, but Muakasey's decision to green light it contrasts with Gonzales' acquiescence in a White House decision to block security clearances for DOJ ethics officials seeking to investigate the National Security Agency's warrantless domestic wiretapping program.
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[SharonRB]

1. Fitz!

:woohoo:

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Good.

[katty]

3. something good?! great news-I am delighted and shocked

[C_U_L8R]

4. a toothless appointment

that signifies nothing.

bring on the Special Prosecutor

[napi21]

7. Awe comeon! It's a LOT better than lots of others he could have named!

I'm watching Mukasey closely, but so far, he's a lot better than I've seen in that job for the last 7 years!

[napi21]

5. I'm not quite ready to accet Mukasey as a fair & honest AG, but so far,

he's certainly moving in the right direction. I'm pleasantly surprised! I also have to say, if I'm pleased, S
hrub has to be kicking himself in the a** for appointing him!

[Demeter]

6. Mukasey Is Trying to Do the Impossible

and when Bush or Cheney pulls on the choke collar, he's going to have to stop trying.

[cali]

8. I'm beginning to think he'd step down

It looks to me like he doesn't want to cap his career ignominously.

[bluedeminredstate]

14. Maybe, but look at who else ruined their reputations

for the Chimperor. Colin Powell comes to mind first since he was seen by the public as this trustworthy, nonpartisan, man of honor, etc., etc.. The day he testified before the United Nations became the day his reputation as an honest broker and great patriot ended. He put party and the administration over the good of the nation and he'll never be the same. Christie Todd Whitmann (sp?) ended up looking like a lap dog who'd lie for Bush and hurt thousands of men and women in doing so. George Tenet who used to be respected as Clinton's CIA head is absolutely a laughing stock.

Why did these people and more take the bullet for the Chimp and Crashcart? I don't hold out a lot of hope that this new AG has the intestinal fortitude that Colin Powell and the rest didn't.

I hope you're right because one high level resignation would be a welcome change to the cowardice we've seen in the face of criminality, corruption, cronyism and Constitutional shananigans. The number of resignations we should have witnessed and didn't over the last seven years is jaw-dropping when you think about it.

:hi:

[spanone]

9. K&R

[Hekate]

10. Oooh. A late Fitzmas present! That's one on the plus side for Mukasey. nt

[madokie]

11. you know all this good news for us and bad news for the bush cabal

has to be having an effect on what mainstream America is thinking about these criminals, I see a lot of disbelief and shaking of the head in disgust as they are waking up too and that is good news for us who want to see justice done. Its the cumulative effect here that is working in our favor and not necessarily by any one tidbit of info. I know I see the world through rose colored glases somewhat but I see good things almost daily now whereas not too long ago it was right the opposite

[redqueen]

12. Pff.

We need a special prosecutor... not feints implying a possible move toward accountability someday in the future.

[intheflow]

13. Kick

[Imagevision]

15. Get real, Mukasey tapped Fitz to simply take him off the table of availability for

>Mukasey can't afford to have Fitzgerald be available for a special prosecutor role, Bush can't afford it. Ya gotta look beyond your nose guyz...