no no no. President Bush is still being accused of violating something, somewhere for firing the US attorneys. since he obviously was not allowed to do that, then I guess nobama cannot do so either.
On Dec 11, 5:47 am, Cold Water <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Will Obama Fire Patrick Fitzgerald? > Wednesday, December 10, 2008 9:02 PM > > By: David A. Patten > > Once he assumes office, President-elect Barack Obama will face a severe > “trial by fire” over whether to fire U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald and > other U.S. attorneys, following Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s > arrest Tuesday for allegedly offering to sell Obama’s vacated Senate seat to > the highest bidder. > > Ordinarily, legal and political experts say, an incoming president has broad > authority to change both the Cabinet and the U.S. attorneys who serve at his > request. But with unanswered questions swirling over the degree of > interaction Obama's team has had with Blagojevich, and the alarming level of > Illinois corruption exposed by the probe, any move to fire Fitzgerald would > be highly controversial as a possible conflict of interest. > > “There are enough connections between the worlds of Blagojevich and Obama > that the whole thing has the potential to grow beyond a colorful Chicago tale > of corruption to entangle members of the presidential transition team, to > test Obama’s carefully cultivated reformist image, and to distract the > president-elect just as he is preparing to take office,” Time.com reported > Wednesday. > > Many of the concerns revolve around a statement Obama made Tuesday afternoon, > which ultimately raised more questions than it answered. > > "I had no contact with the governor or his office, and so we were not -- I > was not aware of what was happening," Obama said, leaving open the > possibility that his staff did have contact with Blagojevich. "And as I said, > it's a sad day for Illinois. Beyond that, I don't think it's appropriate to > comment." > > Obama’s statement evoked concern among the mainstream media that it was too > tepid to quell the rising hubbub. “I think it was a very passive statement by > Obama yesterday. I don’t think it was enough,” NBC political director Chuck > Todd told MSNBC viewers on Wednesday morning. > > Concerns over what Obama’s staff knew regarding the blatant solicitation of > bribes, and when they knew it, only deepened Wednesday morning as Obama > campaign adviser David Axelrod recanted a November statement that Obama did > meet with Blagojevich that month. > > Wednesday afternoon, apparently in response to media rumblings, Obama > commented again, saying via a spokesman that Blagojevich should step down as > Illinois governor. Obama has not been considered particularly close to > Blagojevich, but did voice strong support for him during his 2006 reelection > campaign. > > Citing the equivocal statements coming out of the Obama camp, Heritage fellow > and legal scholar Robert Alt tells Newsmax: “You already have the whiff of > cover-up in the air” inside the Beltway. > > “If these sorts of stories continue,” Alt says, “and it starts to look like > he’s covering up contacts with Blagojevich, if he then sacks Fitzgerald, that > would look very bad indeed.” > > In his news conference, Fitzgerald went out of his way to avoid implicating > the Obama team, stating “there’s no reference in the complaint to any > conversation involving the president-elect or indicating that the > president-elect was aware of it.” > > Alt, the deputy director of the Center for Legal and Judicial studies at > Heritage, says he sees no indication in the criminal complaint against > Blagojevich of any improper involvement on the part of Obama’s > representatives – but he adds Obama must now tread very carefully. > > “It will be a baptism by fire,” Alt tells Newsmax. “Any time there is an > investigation touching on the president or close presidential allies, the > sensitivity of hiring and firing the prosecutors becomes a high concern. It’s > been previously said there’s not much time for on-the-job training for the > presidency. And on the issue of U.S. attorneys, he’ll have to make some tough > calls right away.” > > Republican leaders are already challenging Obama to pledge that after he > becomes president on Jan. 20, he will keep Fitzgerald in office. > > “What he should do tomorrow is say, ‘Patrick Fitzgerald has a job and can > have it for as long as he wants,’” the state Republican chairman of Illinois, > Andy McKenna, told reporters. “Some have wondered if Barack Obama would keep > Fitzgerald. It would be great if he confirms that he plans to.” > > That Fitzgerald suddenly sees Republicans lining up to defend him is > profoundly ironic, given that both prominent Republicans and Democrats have > found themselves in his investigatory crosshairs over the years. > > A former rugby player, Fitzgerald once told a reporter he’d left plenty of > blood on the field because “that was the whole point.” No one has ever > doubted Fitzgerald, 47, plays for keeps. > > Born into a working-class Brooklyn family, Fitzgerald’s father of worked as a > doorman in Manhattan. The future scourge of corrupt politicians attended > Amherst, and after earning a law degree from Harvard University practiced > civil law before becoming an assistant U.S. attorney in New York in 1988. > There, Fitzgerald made his reputation prosecuting terrorists like Sheik Omar > Abdel Rahman, the blind Egyptian cleric who sought to bomb city landmarks. He > also tried four men accused of bombing the East African embassy. > > As Fitzgerald was demonstrating his prosecutorial chops, a maverick Illinois > senator named Peter Fitzgerald – no relation – was looking for a U.S. > attorney who would clean up the state’s infamously twisted politics. > According to The Washington Post, Sen. Fitzgerald called former FBI Director > Louis Freeh and asked, “Who’s the best assistant U.S. attorney you know of in > the country?” > > Freeh didn't hesitate: “Patrick Fitzgerald in the Southern District of New > York.” > > The senator then called the head of the New York office, asked the same > question, and got the same answer: Patrick Fitzgerald. > > That was when the senator recruited his namesake to be U.S. attorney in > Chicago, and the rest is history -- bitter history for those Fitzgerald has > caught trying to scam the public. > > Fitzgerald’s delicious gift for offending the rich and powerful on both sides > of America’s partisan divide was never more evident than in the Valerie Plame > Wilson case. On the one hand, Republicans were troubled that Fitzgerald > decided to prosecute I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the former top aide to Vice > President Dick Cheney, for perjury charges that had little or nothing to do > with the concerns that originally triggered the investigation -- namely, that > a Bush administration official may have broken the law by leaking the > identity of Plame, a CIA operations officer, to columnist Robert Novak. Libby > was convicted, but President Bush commuted his sentence in July 2007. > > During his investigation, Fitzgerald also was targeted by the left and The > New York Times, which pounded away at Fitzgerald in its editorial pages, > stating that “in his zeal to compel reporters to disclose their sources, Mr. > Fitzgerald lost sight of the bigger picture.” > > Among Fitzgerald’s other high-profile prosecutions: The 2006 conviction of > GOP Illinois Gov. George Ryan, for steering state contracts in return for > payoffs. > > Having survived repeated prosecutorial run-ins with powerful people bent on > breaking the law, now the question is whether Fitzgerald will survive the > transition that brings the once-junior senator of Illinois to the White > House. Ousting Fitzgerald could raise serious questions about the sincerity > of Obama’s commitment to do away with old-school politics. > > In September, the former senator who recruited Fitzgerald warned his > protégé’s days might well be numbered once Obama moves into 1600 Pennsylvania > Ave. > > “My guess is if Senator Obama got elected, one of the first things that would > happen is that they would remove Patrick Fitzgerald in Chicago,” the former > senator told WIND’s John & Cisco In The Morning show. “And he’d have pressure > to do so from all sorts of Daley administration people.” > > Bill P. Marshall, a deputy counsel in Bill Clinton’s White House, tells > Newsmax that it is rare for U.S. Attorneys to stay on after a shift in power. > > Obama’s main task, Marshall says, is “returning some credibility to the > Justice Department, but the point is if [Obama] keeps him on, that is the > exception rather than the rule.” > > Firing Fitzgerald could cause Obama more trouble than it’s worth. The > nightmare scenario for Obama would be if the Blagojevich investigation > evolves into a smoldering, enduring controversy along the lines of the > Whitewater scandal, which dogged and distracted the presidency of former > President Bill Clinton. > > For now, that appears to most observers rather unlikely. But given the > president-elect’s admission of what he described as “boneheaded” involvement > in a real estate deal with top Blagojevich fund-raiser Tony Rezko, questions > are likely to linger. > > And then there is Illinois’ daunting reputation for political corruption. > > Law professor James Lindgren, a Chicago-area law professor at Northwestern > University, tells Newsmax: “There is enough corruption in Illinois so that > all it takes is someone who is serious about finding it to uncover it. If a > U.S. attorney is not finding corruption in Illinois, they’re not seriously > looking for it.” > > © 2008 Newsmax. All rights reserved. > > http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/obama_fitzgerald/2008/12/10/160529.html --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. 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