[Rumierules]

Another quote from Fitzie's press conference:

"But also the reporter is the eyewitness, and what I think people don't appreciate is we interviewed lots of people, very high officials, before we ever went to the reporters."

Why does Fitzgerald give so much deference to reporters?

[nopardons]

Because Fizty never has seen this investigation as something big enough/worthy enough of his oh sooooooooo importantness and fuffed it off on subordinates, whom he never asked to do much of. He had his mind made up, from the start, as to what the outcome should be.

[Steve_Seattle]

"Why does Fitzgerald give so much deference to reporters?"

I think I read somewhere that DOJ guidelines require that reporters be the last in the chain of evidence gathering, in deference to their so-called constitutional role as government watchdogs. The idea is that government should subpoena reporters only as a last resort.

But there's more to it than that. Fitz's press conference was very "light," almost gay, as the reporters were obviously sympathetic to his mission. Everybody was in a jolly mood, there were occasional outbursts of contented laughter, etc. Fitz cannot but have learned from the experience of Kenneth Starr, who found that a prosecutor who goes after a Democratic president will be vilified by the media, but that a prosecutor who goes after a Republican administration will get mostly sympathy and even adulation from the media.

And one final thing: one statement of Fitz that was almost universally ignored by the media was (quoting from memory): "My investigation encountered NO political interference from the White House or any government agency. We received full cooperation."