Quote:

the G-man said in November 2005:In their zeal to tie Libby to Cheney to Bush to "Bush LIED," these partisans have already begun taking great pains to portray Fitzgerald as an honest, steadfast, "just the facts," prosecutor. And he probably is.



With a New York Times story hinting at the possibility of prosecutorial misconduct in the Valerie Plame case, I'm starting to feel like Fitzgerald is less interested in the facts than feathering his own cap:

    An enduring mystery of the C.I.A. leak case has been solved in recent days, but with a new twist: Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the prosecutor, knew the identity of the leaker from his very first day in the special counsel's chair, but kept the inquiry open for nearly two more years before indicting I. Lewis Libby Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, on obstruction charges.

    Now, the question of whether Mr. Fitzgerald properly exercised his prosecutorial discretion in continuing to pursue possible wrongdoing in the case has become the subject of rich debate on editorial pages and in legal and political circles. . . .

    Mr. Fitzgerald's defenders point out that the revelation about Mr. Armitage did not rule out a White House effort because officials like Mr. Libby and Karl Rove, the senior white House adviser, had spoken about Ms. Wilson with other journalists. Even so, the Fitzgerald critics say, the prosecutor behaved much as did the independent counsels of the 1980's and 1990's who often failed to bring down their quarry on official misconduct charges but pursued highly nuanced accusations of a cover-up.


The Times suggests that there was a coverup of sorts:

    On Oct. 1, 2003, Mr. Armitage was up at 4 a.m. for a predawn workout when he read a second article by Mr. Novak in which he described his primary source for his earlier column about Ms. Wilson as "no partisan gunslinger." Mr. Armitage realized with alarm that that could only be a reference to him, according to people familiar with his role. He waited until Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, an old friend, was awake, then telephoned him. They discussed the matter with the top State Department lawyer, William H. Taft IV.

    Mr. Armitage had prepared a resignation letter, his associates said. But he stayed on the job because State Department officials advised that his sudden departure could lead to the disclosure of his role in the leak, the people aware of his actions said.

    According to the Times, "Mr. Armitage kept his actions secret, not even telling President Bush because the prosecutor asked him not to divulge it, the people ['who are familiar with his role and actions in the case'] said."


It seems that Fitzgerald and the State Department covered up a noncrime, and the effect was to keep alive the illusion that it was a crime.

Maybe Fitzgerald had pure motives, but the more I hear about the case, the more it looks like the whole thing stinks.