Former Justice Dept. official Victoria Toensing lays into Prosecutor Fitzgerald for editorializing about his and the FBI’s findings in l’affair Blagojevich.
In the Dec. 9 press conference regarding the federal corruption charges against Gov. Blagojevich and his chief of staff, Mr. Fitzgerald violated the ethical requirement of the Justice Department guidelines that prior to trial a “prosecutor shall refrain from making extrajudicial comments that pose a serious and imminent threat of heightening public condemnation of the accused.”
His “political corruption crime spree” and other vivid depictions of Blago’s behavior took him over the line in violation of his duty to “inform the public of the nature and extent” of charges without “ to “inform the public of the nature and extent” without “making extrajudicial comments that pose a serious and imminent threat of heightening public condemnation of the accused.”
She recalls similar Fitzgerald violations in the Scotter Libby announcement in October, 2005, when he likened himself to an umpire who “gets sand thrown in his eyes” by obstruction of justice — acting as if he did not already know who had leaked the Valerie Plame name. (He did, from the start of his investigation.)
Blago engaged in “base, sordid conduct,” she said. “But those thoughts and words are for the rest of us to express before the trial. It is unethical for those who are government prosecutors to do so.”
In other words, he was a reporter in this case, not a columnist or editorial writer.
Blithe Spirit 
Again, I am very wary of Patrick Fitzgerald for all of his unprofessional behavior.
However, today’s Wall Street Jouranl article says that the timing of Blago’s arrest was due to the fact that the Tribune was prepared to print an article about the investigation that would have “blown the whistle” and effectively ended the wire-tap’s effectiveness.
Thanks, again, Trib. No wonder you are going into bankruptcy.
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