Are you thinking that Powell or Armitage leaked it to Novak? I guess Armitage isn't a political "gunslinger" .. but I don't know if that can be said about Powell...he's probably one of the most political public servants that ever walked the hallowed halls.
Feisty U.S. attorney's job safe
July 29, 2005 -BY LYNN SWEET Sun-Times Washington Bureau Chief
WASHINGTON -- It's his call.
Though his term is up this fall, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, the aggressive prosecutor who is investigating Mayor Daley's City Hall, possible illegal White House leaks and who has a former Illinois governor awaiting a corruption trial, is in no danger of losing his job.
Fitzgerald's original four-year term expires in a few months, and former Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.), who engineered his appointment (they are not related), is raising a concern the Chicago-based career prosecutor may be pressured out.
The former senator said in a WGN-TV interview Wednesday he feared for Patrick Fitzgerald's future because of his pursuit of official corruption. Peter Fitzgerald did not offer specifics and was vacationing Thursday and could not be reached.
House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) was asked about Peter Fitzgerald's concerns Thursday . "I know there [have] been innuendos about my getting pressures. I can tell you nobody has talked to me or called me about this. Anybody. Period,'' Hastert said.
For legal and political reasons, however, it seems it is Patrick Fitzgerald's decision to stay or go. Legally, if President Bush does nothing, he stays on the job even though his term is over. Politically, Bush would face a storm of protest if he fired a man who is investigating his own administration.
Patrick Fitzgerald's White House investigation of the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity is putting him at the doorstep of Bush advisor Karl Rove. His pursuit of criminality in City Hall contracts and hiring is taking him into Daley's inner circle.
Illinois Democratic Senators Dick Durbin and Barack Obama have been on record since January -- before the White House and City Hall probes heated up -- as wanting Patrick Fitzgerald to stay.
Hastert said Thursday, "My view on this thing, first of all, he was appointed. He serves at the pleasure of the president of the United States. As far as I know, the U.S. attorney general nor the president or anybody else has asked for his resignation. He serves for the duration as far as I'm concerned.''
Durbin spokesman Joe Shoemaker said Thursday Durbin "thinks there is no finer attorney than Patrick Fitzgerald. He is honest and thorough.''
Hastert wouldn't seek change
White House spokesman Allen Abney referred questions about Fitzgerald to the U.S. Justice Department. A Hastert confidant said the speaker did not issue a statement of support because he does not know Patrick Fitzgerald and has never talked to him.
Hastert said Thursday that before he would do that, "I'd like to see what his views are and what he plans to do," especially in the area of illegal drug money laundering.
Most important however, is this: If the White House asked, Hastert's team would not recommend a change, the source said.
Peter Fitzgerald was the state's senior Republican in 2001 when he reached outside of Illinois to recommend Patrick Fitzgerald, then a New York federal prosecutor, for the job. In the process, Peter Fitzgerald alienated Hastert by refusing to discuss with him the selection of three new U.S. attorneys for Illinois after Bush came into office.
Here is how the selection system for U.S. attorneys works:
* A U.S. attorney is nominated by the president and needs Senate confirmation, though there are no hearings.
* When the term is up, the U.S. attorney serves until a successor is named. No affirmative action -- such as a formal reappointment -- needs to take place.