And so many of the same actors...
24. Who at the Department of Justice arranged the appointment of Patrick Fitzgerald as Special Counsel? On September 29, 2003, the Department of Justice informed CIA that the Counterespionage Section had asked the FBI to investigate the Plame leak. The next day, papers quoted Justice Department spokesman Mark Corallo saying that Department of Justice Counterespionage Section Chief John Dion had decided to investigate the Plame leak without consulting Attorney General John Ashcroft. The same day, papers reported that Democrats were demanding the appointment of a special counsel. Quoted prominently was Senator Charles Schumer, who had been pushing for an investigation of the leak since July. Meanwhile, Representative John Conyers, Jr. of the House Judiciary Committee sent the CIA a letter requesting a description of what contacts the Agency had had with the Justice Department about the Plame leak prior to the commencement of the investigation. On October 15, 2003, Senator Schumer and Senator Edward Kennedy wrote Dion to complain about delays in the White House’s response to the Plame leak investigation. The letter again pushed for the appointment of a special counsel. Isikoff and Corn record that in late October, during confirmation hearings for Deputy Attorney General James Comey, Schumer asked if Comey would be open to a special counsel for the Plame leak case. Two years earlier, Schumer had helped Comey become a US Attorney in New York. Comey would not comment on the specifics of the case, but indicated he would do “the right thing”. After Comey’s confirmation on December 9, Schumer called to congratulate him and implied that he expected Comey to do “the right thing” within a month. On December 30, Comey called a press conference to announce that he was delegating authority for the leak investigation to his former colleague from the US Attorney’s office in New York, Patrick Fitzgerald.