Fortunately, USA Today has a brief profile of the man. Let's see just what kind of a bastard he really is...
When defense attorney Ron Safer heard that Patrick Fitzgerald would lead an inquiry into the leak of a CIA operative's name, his first thought was that, from the Bush administration's perspective, “they could not have picked a worse person.”
Whoops. Because he's a threatening bully, right? That's why he was such a bad choice.
Friends and critics agree that his integrity is unassailable and that he is relentless. The list of people he has prosecuted — including al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, former Illinois governor George Ryan and New York mobsters — shows he has no qualms about going after the powerful.
Wait a minute. "Friend and critics agree that his integrity is unassailable?" That doesn't sound like a threatening bully to me. Let's read on:
“He has no agenda,” says David Kelley, former U.S. attorney in New York and a longtime friend. “He looks at the facts, uncovers the facts and goes where the facts lead him.”
No agenda? That can't be right. He's investigating republicans, for god's sake, and we all know that only ever comes about because of a political agenda. Free Tom Delay!
Fitzgerald, who declined interview requests, is registered to vote with no party affiliation.
Defense lawyers have a different perspective. Scott Mendeloff, a Chicago lawyer who specializes in corporate fraud cases and formerly tried and supervised public corruption prosecutions in the U.S. attorney's office, says Fitzgerald demonstrates “a more black-and-white view of the world” that is “reductionist in disregarding nuances beyond what it will take to prevail.” Some defense lawyers, he says, believe Fitzgerald is “not prone to consider what some would term humane factors in charging and sentencing decisions.”
Wait a minute. He declined interview requests? Doesn't he know this is about him becoming famous?
Fitzgerald, 44, was born in Brooklyn
Oh, well, say no more!
Even lawyers who question Fitzgerald's tactics say they don't doubt his character. “Pat is driven by iron-tight integrity and a tireless work ethic,” Mendeloff says.
Safer, who also once worked in the U.S. attorney's office, faults Fitzgerald for “trying to expand the reach of the mail fraud statutes in ways that are unprecedented” in his government corruption cases. Some errors by politicians, Safer says, “are punishable at the ballot box and not in criminal court.” He says Fitzgerald “is impervious to political pressure. … I've seen no evidence that he has anything but the purest motives.”
There's that word again..."integrity." Also, "work ethic," "character," and "impervious to political pressure."
Cut to George Bush calling for a dictionary...
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