Posted on 12/14/2008 5:53:36 PM PST by jimbo123
Conventional wisdom holds that U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald ordered the FBI to arrest Rod Blagojevich before sunrise Tuesday in order to stop a crime from being committed. That would have been the sale of the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.
But the opposite is true: Members of Fitzgerald’s team are livid the scheme didn’t advance, at least for a little longer, according to some people close to Fitzgerald’s office. Why? Because had the plot unfolded, they might have had an opportunity most feds can only dream of: A chance to catch the sale of a Senate seat on tape, including the sellers and the buyers.
The precise timing of Tuesday’s dramatic, pre-dawn arrest was not dictated by Fitzgerald, nor was it dictated by the pace of Blagojevich’s alleged “crime spree.” It was dictated by the Chicago Tribune, according to people close to the investigation and a careful reading of the FBI’s affidavit in the case.
At Fitzgerald’s request, the paper had been holding back a story since October detailing how a confidante of Blagojevich was cooperating with his office.
Gerould Kern, the Tribune’s editor, said in a statement last week that these requests are granted in what he called isolated instances. “In each case, we strive to make the right decision as reporters and as citizens,” he said.
But editors decided to publish the story on Friday, Dec. 5, ending the Tribune’s own cooperation deal with the prosecutor.
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.wsj.com ...
History Lesson:
Peter Fitzgerald is a staunch CONSERVATIVE Republican that helped Patrick Fitzgerald (no relation to the senator) get his current assignment and wanted to clean up Illinois politics. After 9-11-01 Senator P. Fitzgerald also was the lone voice of conservative reason when he stood against Bush’s first government bail-out of the airline industry, saying the airlines would never clean up their act and waste all the taxpayers’ money. His famous line was: “The government bailed out the airlines but who will bail out the taxpayers?”
Senator Patrick Fitzgerald served one 6 year term and didn’t seek reelection. WHY? He was pressured not to run by key RINO leaders within the Illinois GOP that refused to support his reelection.
Decisions by Republican incumbent Peter Fitzgerald and his Democratic predecessor Carol Moseley Braun not to contest the race launched wide-open Democratic and Republican primary contests involving fifteen candidates. Obama’s candidacy was boosted by Axelrod’s advertising campaign featuring images of the late Chicago Mayor Harold Washington and an endorsement by the daughter of the late Paul Simon, former U.S. Senator for Illinois. He received over 52% of the vote in the March 2004 primary, emerging 29% ahead of his nearest Democratic rival.
Obama’s expected opponent in the general election, Republican primary winner JACK RYAN (key RINO leaders choice) withdrew from the race in June 2004.
In August 2004, with less than three months to go before Election Day, Alan Keyes accepted the Illinois Republican Party’s nomination to replace Ryan. A long-time resident of Maryland, Keyes established legal residency in Illinois with the nomination. Through three televised debates, Obama and Keyes expressed opposing views on stem cell research, abortion, gun control, school vouchers, and tax cuts. Obama was criticized by Keyes, as he had also been by rival pro-choice candidates in the Democratic primary, for a series of “present” votes on late-term abortion and parental notification issues. The charge that Obama’s “present” votes suggested he was not firmly pro-choice was refuted by two lobbyists for pro-choice groups (including Planned Parenthood).
In the November 2004 general election, Obama received 70% of the vote to Keyes’s 27%, the largest victory margin for a statewide race in Illinois history.”
(Source: http://wapedia.mobi/en/Barack_Obama)
Results: Obama wins Illinois senate seat that the GOP had just won six years earlier from Carol Moseley Braun. The Illinois GOP loses a conservative reformist voice. The national GOP loses an important senate seat to Dems. Obama uses senate to launch presidential bid. Obama runs against Gang of 14 leader John McCain. McCain’s greatest strength is that he almost became a Democrat. Obama wins White House in victory not seen since LBJ. In fact, Obama scores victories in many conservative areas running on the platform that the GOP and McCain are tax and spend liberals—and he’s right RINOs are tax and spend liberals.
THANKS RINOs AND CINOs. As always you misunderstand what it means to be a conservative. You fail to support the cause in any way. Your grasp of how the electorate thinks is arrogant and self-serving. You stand in the way of meaningful government reform. And as always you pressure true conservatives to change or quit allowing socialism to advance.
Take a bow you incompetent baffoons.
see this entry and begin to dig for names http://wapedia.mobi/en/Barack_Obama
After Katrina sank New Orleans, Chicago stands alone at the top of the dung heap of corruption.
Jesse Jr.’s corrupt ass.
“Against the Tribune or Fitz and the prosecution team?”
I meant the Tribune, but now that you ask, can I say “all of the above”?
Yes, very interesting!
Ditto. These whore news organizations need to die.
YOu left out a key fact. The Chicago Tribune sued in Calif courts to OPEN the sealed Divorce papers of Mr Ryan and Jerry Ryan !
Axelrod worked for the Tribune.
So what I’m thinking is that the Tribune got its revenge on Blago because he was trying to get their editors fired, saved Jr. from jail and saved Obama from a bigger scandal than he has now.
LOL
This Obama character is slicker than slick Willie..
I did’nt think that was possible. I guess Messiah trumps Willie.
yup. And with the expected premature “reaction” expected by an inexperienced neophyte politician LOL. Ah, what Chicago politics can’t prepare you for. Maybe he should have gotten some pointers from Gov. Spitzer about how to handle it when things, well, get hot quick :O
The Chicago Democrats, including the Obama administration don’t want Blagovitch to even be indicted, they want the investigation dead ended. They just want Blagovitch to go away. The FBI has Emanuel on those tapes too. This investigation would tie the Obama administration in investigations forever, just like Watergate.
.
It doesn’t make sense.
First, they aren’t exactly a bunch of geniuses at the Tribune.
Further, someone had to let them know of the investigation in the first place, and it would’ve been pretty simple to throw them off the trail with off-the-record information making them believe the investigation was concluded (with no evidence of crime) or had taken a totally different direction than the Governor.
None of it makes sense in regard to a Federal criminal investigation. Why was Jesse Jackson told of the impending arrest of the Governor before it even happened? Before that day even?
Notice how the papers filed by Fitzgerald don’t name the individual close to Jesse Jackson, Jr? The person Blago’s brother was going to meet with. The Media also has no interest in naming or speculating on that person?
I think Fitzgerald wanted to contain this scandal to the Gov’s office. He would’ve had the heads up on that article (for info and quotes) at least 48 hours prior to publication. He had multiple options at that point - but he lets it go to press?
BullSh*t is right.
.
Chicago, Chicago
That toddlin’ town
Chicago, Chicago
I’ll show you around, I love it
Bet your bottom dollar
You’ll lose the blues
In Chicago, Chicago
I read the entire story and don’t seem to understand WHO leaked a federal investigation fact to a newspaper?
I wonder if Mr. Blago is starting to realize that the enemy of his enemy is his friend.
HE was at war with the Tribune, but apparently they hate Mr. Fitzgerald even more...
Please provide your source for this. I've been following the timeline and have not come across this information yet.
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