by Nonny » Wed Sep 14, 2005 10:53 am
Push on to dump prosecutor, ex-senator says<br>Chicago Tribune (IL)<br>July 28, 2005<br>Author: John Chase, Tribune staff reporter.<br><br>Former U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald said Wednesday he believes there is mounting political pressure to oppose the reappointment of U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald this fall, given his aggressive prosecution of government corruption in Illinois.<br><br><br>The former senator questioned whether House Speaker Dennis Hastert, the state's top Republican, would support the prosecutor when President Bush decides whether to extend his term in Chicago.<br><br><br>But Hastert, who often battled with Sen. Fitzgerald while the two Republicans served together in Congress, quickly shot down the ex-senator's claims. Hastert's office said the decision rests entirely with Bush and that Hastert has no role whatsoever in whether the prosecutor keeps his job.<br><br>Fitzgerald was the state's Republican U.S. senator in 2001 when he went outside Illinois' political and legal circles to recommend Patrick Fitzgerald, who was then a federal prosecutor in New York. Peter Fitzgerald contends that the subsequent indictment of former GOP Gov. George Ryan and the federal investigation of Mayor Richard Daley's City Hall have angered powerful politicians in both parties. The Fitzgeralds are not related.<br><br>"I'd be pleasantly surprised if Speaker Hastert recommended Patrick Fitzgerald for reappointment," the former senator said in a telephone interview, echoing comments he made to WGN-TV Wednesday.<br><br>"But I'm beginning to sense that a lot of people, a lot of criminals, may hope that October brings them a new U.S. attorney in Chicago, one perhaps a little bit more malleable and acceptable to influence from leading Republicans and leading Democrats."<br><br>Bush nominated Patrick Fitzgerald for the U.S. attorney's job in September 2001, and the prosecutor officially began his four-year term a month later. Bush's nomination followed a long-held tradition in Washington that the top senator from the same political party of the president proposes candidates for judicial and federal prosecutor vacancies in their states.<br><br>But because both Illinois senators are now Democrats, former Sen. Fitzgerald said Bush could seek the counsel of Illinois' highest-ranking Republican in Congress, Hastert, when he is considering Patrick Fitzgerald's reappointment.<br><br>But officials with Hastert's office argued reappointment is a less formal process that will not involve the speaker.<br><br>"This is a decision that rests with the Bush administration," Hastert spokesman Ron Bonjean said. "The speaker has chosen not to get involved in this matter and, although he does not know U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald, he believes that he is a qualified prosecutor."<br><br>The end of Fitzgerald's first term as U.S. attorney does not necessarily mean he must leave office on that day.<br><br>Although Fitzgerald's term officially ends in late October, if he is not reappointed by then, he remains on the job until Bush nominates another prosecutor and the Senate confirms that nominee.<br><br>The former senator did not discuss Patrick Fitzgerald's other role, as the special prosecutor in the investigation into whether Bush administration officials leaked the identity of a CIA employee to the media.<br><br>A White House spokeswoman said no decision has been made on reappointing Fitzgerald.<br><br>----------<br><br>jchase@tribune.com<br>Caption: <br>PHOTO<br>Caption: <br>PHOTO: Patrick Fitzgerald <br>Edition: Chicago Final<br>Section: News<br>Page: 16<br><br>Index Terms: ISSUE; APPOINTMENT; FEDERAL; COURT; ILLINOIS; CAREER; IMAGE<br>Copyright (c) 2005, Chicago Tribune Company. All rights reserved.<br>Record Number: CTR0507280207<br> <p></p><i></i>
