Thursday, July 14, 2005

 

Diogenes Searches Among The Mafiosi

Two articles about the Plame investigation -- and more specifically about what Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is all about, and may be up to -- have got me feeling optimistic lately. The first is from Billmon, at Whisky Bar:

I just got off the phone with a friend of mine, a veteran investigative reporter, who in turn said he recently talked to one of his old editors, who covered Patrick Fitzgerald when he was an assistant U.S. attorney going after mob guys in New York. So my friend asked him what he thought of the guy.

This is from my friend's memory, but given that he's got 20+ years in the business, and I've known him longer than that, I trust his quotes:

"Fitzgerald is a prosecution machine," the old editor said. "When he wants somebody, he goes after them with whatever he's got. If he can't make the case he started with, he'll figure out what you did do and hit you with that. He's relentless, and he doesn't give a flying fuck about the press or the First Amendment. He'd throw us all in jail if it would help him make his case."

I'm reminded of the scene in The Terminator, where Reese -- the hero who's come back from the future to protect Sarah Connors -- tells her:

"Listen. Understand. That Terminator is out there. It can't be reasoned with, it can't be bargained with. It doesn't feel pity or remorse or fear. And it absolutely will not stop. Ever. Until you are dead."

Be afraid, Karl. Be very afraid.

The second is a passage from Sidney Blumenthal's latest salon.com article -- I think this bears repeating:

Both Cooper and Miller argued that they were entitled to journalistic privilege to protect their sources. But the court ruled against them. U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Hogan's opinion suggested that the prosecutor's case had deepened and widened.

In discussing the sealed affidavit filed by Fitzgerald, and not privy to the defendants, Hogan stated that the "Special Counsel outlines in great detail the developments in this case and the investigation as a whole. The ex parte affidavit establishes that the government's focus has shifted as it has acquired additional information during the course of the investigation. Special Counsel now needs to pursue different avenues in order to complete its investigation." Judge Hogan concluded that "the subpoenas were not issued in an attempt to harass the [reporters], but rather stem from legitimate needs due to an unanticipated shift in the grand jury's investigation."

Mark those words, ladies and germs. This is going to get a whole lot more interesting before it's through.

And remember: It ain't over until the Fat Traitor sings.

posted by Michael 6:58 AM