Patrick Fitzgerald | |
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United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois | |
In office October 21, 2001 –June 30, 2012 | |
President | George W. Bush Barack Obama |
Preceded by | Scott Lassar |
Succeeded by | Zachary T. Fardon |
Special Counsel for the United States Department of Justice | |
In office December 30,2003 –March 6,2007 | |
Appointed by | James Comey |
Preceded by | Position not in use |
Succeeded by | Position not in use |
Personal details | |
Born | New York City,New York,U.S. | December 22,1960
Political party | Independent |
Spouse | Jennifer Letzkus |
Children | 2 |
Education | Amherst College (BA) Harvard University (JD) |
Patrick J. Fitzgerald (born December 22,1960) is an American lawyer and former partner at the law firm of Skadden,Arps,Slate,Meagher &Flom. [1]
For more than a decade,until June 30,2012,Fitzgerald was the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. [2] Prior to his appointment,he served as Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York from 1988 to 2001, [3] and as Chief of the Organized Crime-Terrorism Unit since December 1995,where he participated in the prosecutions of Osama bin Laden,Abdel Rahman,and Ramzi Yousef.
As special counsel for the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Special Counsel,Fitzgerald was the federal prosecutor in charge of the investigation of the Valerie Plame Affair,which led to the prosecution and conviction in 2007 of Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff Scooter Libby for perjury and obstruction of justice. [4] [5]
As a federal prosecutor,he led a number of high-profile investigations,including those which led to convictions of Illinois Governors Rod Blagojevich and George Ryan,media mogul Conrad Black,several aides to Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley in the Hired Truck Program,and Chicago police detective and torturer Jon Burge.
Fitzgerald was born into a Roman Catholic family of Irish descent in Brooklyn. His father (also named Patrick Fitzgerald) worked as a doorman in Manhattan and a security guard at the 1964 New York World's Fair in Flushing,Queens. [6] Fitzgerald attended Our Lady Help of Christians grammar school,before going on to Regis High School. He received degrees in economics and mathematics from Amherst College,Phi Beta Kappa,before receiving his JD from Harvard Law School in 1985. [7] He played rugby at Amherst [8] and at Harvard he was a member of the Harvard Business School Rugby Club.
After practicing civil law,Fitzgerald became an Assistant United States Attorney in New York City in 1988. He handled drug trafficking cases and in 1993 assisted in the prosecution of Mafia figure John Gambino,a boss of the Gambino crime family. [11] In 1994,Fitzgerald became the prosecutor in the case against Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman and 11 others charged in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. [12]
In 1996,Fitzgerald became the National Security Coordinator for the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. There,he served on a team of prosecutors investigating Osama bin Laden. [13] He also served as chief counsel in prosecutions related to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
On September 1,2001,Fitzgerald was nominated for the position of U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois on the recommendation of U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald (no relation),a Republican from Illinois. On October 24,2001,the nomination was confirmed by the Senate. The Senator urged the selection because Patrick Fitzgerald is not from Chicago;Patrick said that he had visited Chicago only one day,for a wedding in 1982,before his selection. [14]
Soon after becoming U.S. Attorney for Northern Illinois,Fitzgerald began an investigation of political appointees of Republican Illinois Governor George Ryan,who were suspected of accepting bribes to give licenses to unqualified truck drivers. Fitzgerald soon expanded this investigation,uncovering a network of political bribery and gift-giving,and leading to more than 60 indictments. Ryan was indicted in December 2003. At the conclusion of the trial in April 2006,Ryan was found guilty on all eighteen counts against him. Ryan's co-defendant,Chicago businessman Larry Warner,then 67 years old,was convicted of racketeering conspiracy,fraud,attempted extortion,and money laundering. The two were sentenced on September 6,2006:Ryan received a sentence of six and one half years,and Warner received a sentence of three years and five months. [15]
Against criticism that these cases were based on circumstantial evidence,Fitzgerald responded:"People now know that if you're part of a corrupt conduct,where one hand is taking care of the other and contracts are going to people,you don't have to say the word 'bribe' out loud. And I think people need to understand we won't be afraid to take strong circumstantial cases into court." [16]
On July 18,2005,his office indicted a number of top aides to Democrat Richard M. Daley,the mayor of Chicago,on charges of mail fraud,alleging numerous instances of corruption in hiring practices at City Hall. [17]
In March 2006,former Chicago City Clerk James Laski pleaded guilty to pocketing nearly $50,000 in bribes for steering city business to two trucking companies. Laski was the highest-ranking Chicago official and Daley administration employee brought down by Fitzgerald's office in conjunction with the Hired Truck Program scandal. Beginning in April 2007,Fitzgerald oversaw Operation Crooked Code,the investigation and prosecution of over two dozen defendants for bribery and related charges in Chicago's Department of Buildings and Zoning. [18]
On December 9,2008,federal agents arrested Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich for conspiring to profit from his authority to appoint President Barack Obama's successor to the U.S. Senate. Fitzgerald said Blagojevich "put a 'for sale' sign on the naming of a United States Senator." [19]
Senator Peter Fitzgerald chose not to run for reelection in 2004,leaving Patrick Fitzgerald without a congressional patron. In the summer of 2005,there were rumors that he would not be reappointed to a second four-year term in retaliation for his investigations into corruption in Illinois and Chicago government,as well as for his investigation of the Plame scandal.[ citation needed ] On May 23,2012,Fitzgerald held a press conference informing the public that he was stepping down from his position and retiring as the US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Federal Court effective June 30,2012. [2] Long-time prosecutor Gary S. Shapiro was named US Attorney until a replacement was selected. [20]
In 2013,Fitzgerald was appointed by Governor Patrick Quinn (D-IL) to the Board of Trustees for the University of Illinois. [21]
Fitzgerald joined Skadden,Arps,Slate,Meagher &Flom in the firm's Chicago office as a partner. [22] In June of 2023,Fitzgerald retired from Skadden,Arps,Slate,Meagher &Flom.
On December 30,2003,after then-Attorney General John Ashcroft recused himself from the CIA leak grand jury investigation of the Plame affair due to conflicts of interest,Deputy Attorney General James B. Comey,acting as Attorney General in Ashcroft's place,appointed Fitzgerald to the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Special Counsel in charge of the investigation. [4] [5] Fitzgerald was well-known to Comey and was in fact already godfather to one of Comey's children.
On December 30,2003,three months after the start of the Plame investigation,Fitzgerald was appointed Special Counsel. Through this,Fitzgerald was delegated "all the authority of the Attorney General" in the matter. In February 2004,Acting Attorney General Comey clarified the delegated authority and stated that Fitzgerald has plenary authority. Comey also wrote "further,my conferral on you of the title of 'Special Counsel' in this matter should not be misunderstood to suggest that your position and authorities are defined and limited by 28 CFR Part 600." [23]
On October 28,2005,Fitzgerald brought an indictment for five counts of false statements,perjury,and obstruction of justice against Lewis "Scooter" Libby,U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff. Libby resigned to prepare for his legal defense. In his first press conference after announcing Libby's indictment,Fitzgerald was asked about comments by Republicans such as Kay Bailey Hutchison,who said "I certainly hope that if there is going to be an indictment that says something happened,that it is an indictment on a crime and not some perjury technicality," to which Fitzgerald responded,"That talking point won't fly. The truth is the engine of our judicial system. If you compromise the truth,the whole process is lost. If we were to walk away from this,we might as well hand in our jobs." [24]
Robert Novak's testimony in Libby's perjury trial made it known that the two senior administration sources he cited in his article were Richard Armitage and Karl Rove. [25] A month later Armitage claimed Fitzgerald had instructed him not to go public with this information. [26] Journalist Michael Isikoff received confirmation from Rove's lawyer and from lobbyist Richard F. Hohlt that Rove was also faxed an advance copy of the article several days before it was published. [27]
On March 6,2007,Libby was convicted of 4 out of 5 charges of lying under oath. Fitzgerald announced on the courthouse steps that while he is always open to receiving new information related to the case,he expects to file no further charges,and the prosecutors would "return to their day jobs". Libby was sentenced to a $250,000 fine,2 years of probation and a 2½year prison term. After a court of appeals rejected Libby's attempt to delay the prison sentence while he appealed the verdict,President George W. Bush commuted the prison portion of Libby's sentence but did not commute the fine. [28]
Two days after the verdict,Congressman Henry Waxman,chair of the U.S. House Committee on Government Reform,announced that his committee would ask Plame to testify on March 16,in an effort by his committee to look into "whether White House officials followed appropriate procedures for safeguarding Plame's identity." [29]
In March 2007,Fitzgerald was ranked among prosecutors who "had not distinguished themselves" as opposed to "strong U.S. Attorneys who exhibited loyalty to the administration" on a Justice Department chart sent to the White House in March 2005. [30] This was revealed in light of an investigation of the December 2006 firings of several U.S. Attorneys by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales,perceived as being politically motivated and despite Fitzgerald's previous Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service in 2002. [31] Two other prosecutors so ranked were dismissed. On July 2,2007,President Bush provided a statement [32] on his decision to commute Libby's prison sentence and noted:
After the investigation was under way,the Justice Department appointed United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Patrick Fitzgerald as a Special Counsel in charge of the case. Mr. Fitzgerald is a highly qualified,professional prosecutor who carried out his responsibilities as charged.
Libby was eventually pardoned by President Donald Trump on April 13,2018. [33]
On November 17,2005,Fitzgerald brought criminal fraud charges against former Canadian media mogul Conrad Black,as well as against three other Hollinger executives. The trial of Black began at the federal court in Chicago in March 2007. Black was convicted on July 13,2007 and was later sentenced to serve 78 months in federal prison,pay Hollinger $6.1 million and a fine of $125,000. [34]
On February 1,2006,the U.S. Attorney's Office under Fitzgerald announced that it was indicting nineteen members of Risciso,a software and movie piracy ring,in U.S. District Court in Chicago. The prosecution was the result of an undercover investigation,Operation Jolly Roger,that was part of Operation Site Down—an initiative by the FBI and law enforcement agents from ten other countries to disrupt and dismantle many of the leading warez groups that distribute and trade in copyrighted software,movies,music,and games on the Internet. [35] [36]
On December 9,2008,Fitzgerald confirmed in a press conference in Chicago that Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff,John Harris,had been arrested by the FBI early that morning on charges of corruption. Fitzgerald described Blagojevich's actions as the "kind of conduct [that] would make Lincoln roll over in his grave." [37] Blagojevich was charged with mail fraud and solicitation of a bribe. According to Fitzgerald,Blagojevich attempted to sell off President-elect Barack Obama's open U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder,as well as pressuring the Chicago Tribune to fire editors critical of the Blagojevich administration in exchange for state assistance in selling Wrigley Field. [38] Fitzgerald said at the news conference that,"I laid [ sic ] awake at night",worrying about the possible firing of Tribune editors. [39]
In 2014,Fitzgerald was hired by Michigan State University to conduct an internal investigation to discover whether and when university officials knew about sexual assault allegations against Dr. Larry Nassar. Fitzgerald reported to university officials that no MSU official "believed" that Nassar had committed sexual assault,but did not provide any written report detailing the evidence for this claim. [40]
Valerie Elise Plame is an American writer,spy,novelist,and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer. As the subject of the 2003 Plame affair,also known as the CIA leak scandal,Plame's identity as a CIA officer was leaked to and subsequently published by Robert Novak of The Washington Post. She described this period and the media firestorm that ensued as "mortifying,and I think I was in shock for a couple years".
Skadden,Arps,Slate,Meagher &Flom LLP and Affiliates,typically shortened to Skadden,is an American multinational law firm headquartered in New York City. The company is known for its work on company mergers and takeovers.
Rod Blagojevich,often referred to by his nickname "Blago",is an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. He was impeached,removed from office,convicted,and incarcerated for eight years on federal charges of public corruption. A member of the Democratic Party,Blagojevich previously worked in both the state and federal legislatures. He served as an Illinois state representative from 1993 to 1997,and the U.S. representative from Illinois's 5th district from 1997 to 2003.
In the United States,a special counsel is a lawyer appointed to investigate,and potentially prosecute,a particular case of suspected wrongdoing for which a conflict of interest exists for the usual prosecuting authority. Other jurisdictions have similar systems. For example,the investigation of an allegation against a sitting president or attorney general might be handled by a special prosecutor rather than by an ordinary prosecutor who would otherwise be in the position of investigating his or her own superior. Special prosecutors also have handled investigations into those connected to the government but not in a position of direct authority over the Justice Department's prosecutors,such as cabinet secretaries or election campaigns.
Judith Miller is an American journalist and commentator known for writing on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction (WMD) program both before and after the 2003 invasion,whose writings were later discovered to have been based on fabricated intelligence. She worked in the Washington bureau of The New York Times before joining Fox News in 2008.
The Plame affair erupted in July 2003,when journalist Robert Novak revealed that Valerie Plame worked as covert employee of the Central Intelligence Agency,although the seeds of the scandal had been laid during 2001 and 2002 as the Bush administration investigated allegations that Iraq had purchased Nigerien uranium.
The Plame affair was a political scandal that revolved around journalist Robert Novak's public identification of Valerie Plame as a covert Central Intelligence Agency officer in 2003.
The CIA leak grand jury investigation was a federal inquiry "into the alleged unauthorized disclosure of a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee's identity",a possible violation of criminal statutes,including the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982,and Title 18,United States Code,Section 793.
Joseph Tate is an American attorney who represented government official Lewis Libby in the CIA leak grand jury investigation. Tate is a partner with the law firm Dechert LLP in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania. Previously,Tate worked in the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice.
United States v. Libby was the federal trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby,a former high-ranking official in the George W. Bush administration,for interfering with special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's criminal investigation of the Plame affair.
Murray S. Waas is an American independent journalist and investigative journalist best known for his coverage of the White House planning for the 2003 invasion of Iraq and ensuing controversies and American political scandals such as the Plame affair. For much of his career,Waas focused on national security reporting,but has also written about social issues and corporate malfeasance. His articles about the second Iraq war and Plame affair matters have appeared in National Journal,where he has worked as a staff correspondent and contributing editor,The Atlantic,and,earlier The American Prospect.
The Plame affair was a dispute stemming from allegations that one or more White House officials revealed Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent Valerie Plame Wilson's undercover status. An investigation,led by special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald,was started,concerning the possibility that one or more crimes may have been committed. The initial focus was on Scooter Libby;however,he was not the primary source of the leak.
Irve Lewis "Scooter" Libby is an American lawyer and former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney known for his high-profile indictment and clemency.
The Scooter Libby clemency controversy arose when U.S. President George W. Bush commuted the prison sentence of Scooter Libby,the former Chief of Staff to Bush's vice president,Dick Cheney,on July 2,2007. It resulted in a hearing,"The Use and Misuse of Presidential Clemency Power for Executive Branch Officials",held July 11,2007,by the full Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. House of Representatives. The hearing was intended to "explore the grave questions that arise when the Presidential clemency power is used to erase criminal penalties for high-ranking executive branch employees whose offenses relate to their work for the President",as well as to assess the consequences of the perjury and obstruction of justice of which vice-presidential Chief of Staff Lewis Libby was convicted March 6,2007.
Fair Game:My Life as a Spy,My Betrayal by the White House is a memoir by Valerie Plame Wilson. Wilson is the former covert CIA officer whose then-classified non-official cover (NOC) identity as "Valerie Plame" was leaked to the press in July 2003,after her husband,former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson,IV,had criticized the George W. Bush administration's rationale for the Iraq War. The outing made her the center of the American political scandal known as the Plame affair. Her public outing led to her decision to resign from the CIA in December 2005,when she attempted to retire early at the age of 42. Being told that she could not collect her pension until the age of 56,she determined to write this book both as a means of telling her own story in her own words and as a means of earning income to replace her deferred retirement annuity. She encountered resistance from the CIA in the course of chronicling her work with the organization.
Gregory Bestor Craig is an American lawyer and former White House Counsel under President Barack Obama,from 2009 to 2010. A former attorney at the Washington,D.C. law firm of Williams &Connolly,Craig has represented numerous high-profile clients. Prior to becoming White House Counsel,he served as assistant to the President and special counsel in the White House of President Bill Clinton,where he directed the team defending Clinton against impeachment. Craig also served as a senior advisor to Senator Edward Kennedy and to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
Operation Board Games is a federal fraud investigation initiated by United States Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald in December 2003,in order to investigate suspected fraud and extortion activity by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. The investigation's name is a reference to two governing bodies in Illinois:one board controlling the Teacher's Pension System,and the second being the Health Facilities Planning Board.
In December 2008,then-Democratic Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich and his Chief of Staff John Harris were charged with corruption by federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. As a result,Blagojevich was impeached by the Illinois General Assembly and removed from office by the Illinois Senate in January 2009. The federal investigation continued after his removal from office,and he was indicted on corruption charges in April of that year. The jury found Blagojevich guilty of one charge of making false statements with a mistrial being declared on the other 23 counts due to a hung jury after 14 days of jury deliberation. On June 27,2011,after a retrial,Blagojevich was found guilty of 17 charges,not guilty on one charge and the jury deadlocked after 10 days of deliberation on the two remaining charges. On December 7,2011,Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
A number of controversies related to Rod Blagojevich,formerly the Governor of Illinois,were covered in the press during and after his administration. In addition to a reputation for secrecy that was noted by the Associated Press,Blagojevich was the subject of political,legal,and personal controversies similar to those of his predecessor,Republican Governor George Ryan. To the surprise of many,Blagojevich said in 2008 that he agreed with the idea of commuting Ryan's federal prison sentence.
Patrick M. Collins,is an American lawyer. Collins is a partner in King &Spalding LLP's Special Matters and Government Investigations practice. Previously,he was a partner at Perkins Coie LLP. Prior to joining Perkins Coie,Collins worked for the United States Department of Justice as an assistant U.S. Attorney. In 2005,he led the U.S. government's team in the trial and conviction of former Illinois Governor George Ryan on charges of racketeering and fraud. In 2009,Illinois Governor Pat Quinn appointed Collins to chair the Illinois Reform Commission,which was tasked with making recommendations for ethical reform for Illinois government. Several of the IRC's recommendations became the basis for new state legislation,including an overhauled Freedom of Information Act and the state's first measures to limit campaign finance in history. In January 2010,Collins authored a book entitled Challenging the Culture of Corruption:Game Changing Reform for Illinois.(ISBN 978-0879464240). In 2010,Collins was selected by the Chicago Law Bulletin as one of Chicago's "Top Ten" attorneys of the decade. Prior to his 12 years with the Department of Justice,Collins worked as an associate in private practice.
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