Posted on 10/22/2005 11:30:15 AM PDT by wagglebee
A little more than a year before he was tapped to head the special counsel probe into allegations that the Bush administration "outed" CIA employee Valerie Plame, then-U.S. attorney Patrick Fitzgerald abruptly dropped a wiretapping probe into Sen. Tom Harkin's campaign, saying no laws had been broken.
On Sept. 3, 2002, Harkin operatives arranged to secretly tape a strategy meeting by his then-Republican opponent, Rep. Greg Ganske.
Brian Conley, a former aide to the Iowa Democrat, made a digital recording while attending the meeting at the request of Harkin staff member Rafael Ruthchild, according to the Des Moines Register. Conley then returned the recorder to Ruthchild, who provided a copy of the recording and a transcript to a reporter.
The Ganske campaign immediately cried foul and demanded that Polk County Attorney John Sarcone launch a criminal probe. Patrick Fitzgerald, who headed up the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago, also launched an investigation.
Meanwhile, the key players in the case gave every indication they believed they were in legal jeopardy.
Conley and Ruthchild refused to speak to investigators on the advice of their attorneys, with Ruthchild resigning from her job.
And Sen. Harkin staunchly denied he had any prior knowledge of the possibly criminal tape plot.
After a brief two week probe, however, Prosecutor Sarcone - a Democrat whose sister worked for then-Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle in Washington, D.C. - declared that the Harkin campaign had broken no laws.
After a separate but equally brief investigation, U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald announced that there was no violation of federal law by Harkin's team.
Fitzgerald's reluctance to pursue the Harkin Tapegate scandal stands in marked contrast to his conduct of the Leakgate investigation, where he's earned a reputation as an aggressive and creative prosecutor who has pushed the envelope and left no stone unturned.
However, the two investigations are not completely dissimilar.
As with Tapegate, Fitzgerald decided "almost from the start" [according to the New York Times] not to pursue allegations that Plame's outing was illegal, probably because she isn't covered by the federal law in question, the 1982 Intelligence Identities Protection Act.
Instead, Fitzgerald has reportedly made conflicting accounts offered to his grand jury the focus of his two-year probe, issues the Times described Friday as "peripheral" to his initial investigation.
While no one has so far ascribed partisan motives to Fitzgerald for pressing his case long after determining that Plame's outing wasn't illegal, reports that he is a Republican turn out not to be true.
Born of working class immigrant parents and raised in heavily Democratic Brooklyn, New York, Fitzgerald was educated in liberal bastions like Amherst College and Harvard University.
Asked in 2001 if he had any political affiliation, the Leakgate prosecutor told the Chicago Tribune: "I'm an independent."
He is obviously trying to payback the GOP for Ken Starr.
another double-standard the lib-MSM will never investigate.
---and of course, nothing is going on with Chuckiegate worthy of mention by our MSM, either---
"While no one has so far ascribed partisan motives to Fitzgerald for pressing his case long after determining that Plame's outing wasn't illegal, reports that he is a Republican turn out not to be true."
I quetion this article because of this one line - I have not seen any public indication that Fitzgerald has determine there was no outing.
I've determined that - but I have not seen any official ruling.
It does begin to look that way. I hope he understands that if he brings false or trivial charges against administration figures, while giving the real culprits, Wilson and his media pals, a free ride, he may be a momentary hero to the MSM but in the long term he will destroy his career.
The media pick people up and drop them at their convenience. Ask Jim Jeffords how much good all that free publicity is doing him now.
I wonder if Fitzgerald realizes he is doing Al Qaeda's handy-work (along with the MSM). How does he sleep at night?
I feel like a democrat reading about Ken Starr.
Thanks for nothing MSM
I think he sees this case is much more glamorous- I'm sure he is well aware of how the left will fawn all over him should he manage to bring an indictment against Rove (who is most obviously the real target, not Libby).
Fitzgerald is a liberal now?
.
"DUNG" HARKIN =
Friend of the CASTRO-Backed Communists trying to take over Central America during the 1980's.
The Enemy is now Within...
and always has been =
"DUNG" HARKIN
.
Fitzgerald is Harriet Miers.
His actions will determine his label.
There's no question that Karl Rove is the target, the left views Rove as the greatest threat to liberalism.
On the other hand, almost nobody even knew who Scooter Libby was until a few weeks ago.
The key is the vote. First comes the primary process and here we want to nominate the Rep whose ideals and beliefs most closely mirror ours. But we need to vote Republican even if the candidate is not a rock solid conservative in every area. Work to change him. Letters, phone calls, whatever it takes to make him what we want him to be. Most importantly we must put them in office because a not so conservative Republican is still better then a Democrat of any kind.
He may be trying to justify his existence.
We will find out soon if Fitzgerald is a Good Lawyer or a Good Democrat, because you can't be both.
While at WAR, I vote Republican in the face of any liberal.
To do otherwise or to stay home would be the very definition of un-American.
I agree one hundred percent. If Fitzgerald indicts Rove and Libby on less that ironclad and real charges, he will destroy himself overnight. He will also strengthen the conservative base of the Republican Party immensely. While the Democrats and the MSM will gloat from ear to ear, their pleasure will be fleeting at best. 2006 and 2008 will be a diaster for the Democrat party. Mr. Fitzgerald should be indicting Joe Wilson, Judith Miller and Matt Cooper for treason. These traitors along with Mr. Fitzgerald, if he indicts Libby and Rove, will be the direct cause of American military and civilians being put in further harms way, because the enemy will believe the Democrats are coming to power, and will be shouting for glee. The long term damage to the USA and the American people will be fatal, as the Democrat Party kisses up to the people that want to see America and Americans destroyed. Mr. Fitzgerald better open his eyes wide and look at the big picture!!! If he had any brains and loyalty to America, he would shut his investigation down, pack his bags and hunt another dog for his beloved "Traitor" Democrat Party. The true bottom line is: Mr. Libby and Mr. Rove did nothing wrong!!! End of story!!!
can't we out left the left and maybe see their Leninism and raise em alittle Stalinism. 4 years of death camps for the left and then back to a Norman Rockwell America for the rest of us, be rid of these leach maggots once and for all. of course i don't really mean this, these are only dreams i wake up from........everyday
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