W pals bushwhack CIA leak prosecutor

New York Dailiy News ^ | Oct 24 05 | THOMAS M. DeFRANK and MICHAEL McAULIFF

[churchillbuff]

As the White House and Republicans brace for possible indictments in the CIA leak probe, defenders have launched a not-so-subtle campaign against the prosecutor handling the case. "He's a vile, detestable, moralistic person with no heart and no conscience who believes he's been tapped by God to do very important things," one White House ally said, referring to special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald was tapped nearly two years ago to find out whether anyone in the White House broke a federal law by blowing the cover of CIA operative Valerie Plame after her husband, Joseph Wilson, debunked administration claims about Saddam Hussein's nuclear activities.

President Bush recently praised Fitzgerald on NBC's "Today" show, saying: "The special prosecutor is conducting a very serious investigation. He's doing it in a very dignified way, by the way, and we'll see what he says."

But now friends of the White House have started whispering that the Brooklyn-raised prosecutor is overzealous after it became clear that Bush political mastermind Karl Rove and Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis (Scooter) Libby, are in Fitzgerald's cross hairs.

Such hints surfaced publicly for the first time yesterday when Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.), armed with comments that sources said were "shaped" by the White House, suggested Fitzgerald might nail someone on a "technicality" because they forgot something or misspoke.

"I certainly hope that if there is going to be an indictment ... it is an indictment on a crime and not some perjury technicality where they couldn't indict on the crime, and so they go to something just to show that their two years of investigation was not a waste," Hutchison said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Fitzgerald was first tasked with finding the Plame leaker, but his mandate expanded to include counts of perjury, obstruction of justice, intimidation of witnesses or destruction of evidence, should anyone undermine his probe.

There were several reports yesterday that Fitzgerald could warn people they've been indicted as soon as today, and that the grand jury could be called in for an unusual session tomorrow, but his office declined to comment.

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I just FRmailed her with the links.

Thank God. I haven't been hurt like that since I can't remember. Thank God it's not true.

[demkicker]

I don't disagree with anything you said. In fact, I'm just as surprised as you are at the naivety of W's administration in their preparation of the typical democrat & MSM critical onslaught.

One would think that W and his handlers would be much wiser and prepared for the dirtiest of inside the beltway ruthlessness than he's demonstrated. He and his administration get an "F" in my book for not only their handling of this bungled mess, but their limp wristed retaliation on their enemies.

[WhistlingPastTheGraveyard]

A gross lie.

Yup. And the entire basis for this moonbat fantasy.

[dalight]

Bush chose to appoint someone after they knew all of this. Why?

[AmishDude]

Well, if there were genuine leaks it would take time to track them down, Fitzgerald would have no idea at this time.

Alberta's Child has suggested that it is not illegal to leak falsehoods. It might be a stretch, but if Fitz is not coming out with indictments and lefties in his office know that, the best way to do damage is to suggest there will be prosecutions. When there aren't, Fitz looks weak and compromised and maybe they can gin up a new investigation.