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 ...
Ah, the political wheels turning....
Obama goes from paying for a senator to getting a senator AND a governor for free.
Very well played.
“Hi Kids! Civic lesson for the day. (1.) Who is the only Person who can nominate an ambassador in America? A. The President. B. Anyone else. The answer is A. The President of the United States in the only person who can nominate an ambassador. Blagojevich wanted to be an ambassador in exchange for the Senate seat.
Comment by Air Mail - December 14, 2008 at 9:58 pm”
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Fitzgerald has a lot of tools and options open to him, but he didn’t even open his toolbox.
They wanted to contain this as close as possible to Blago.
They didn’t want it to spread to the Chicago Machine, which leads to the DNC and prominent persons.
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4 later
/mark
Let’s face it, the Chicago that’s always been seeping along just below the surface has finally made its way through and has tainted everything that was once just good enough and just enough above all that was bad to, well, remain above it. No more.
Even Sandburg wouldn’t recognize his “City of the Big Shoulders” today. Sad.
I cried when they turned on the lights at Wrigley. Now, I say to the Hawk Wind with them. Light it up and leave it on 24/7/365. Build a dome over “The Friendly Confines.” Sorry, Ernie, but I don’t want to even play one, let alone two. I’ll savor the fading echo of your last “HOLY COW!” whenever I pass by a six-pack of Old Style, Harry, but I’ll never return to what has been lost.
Chicago is a hard lesson in what is coming for the rest of the US. The city was what it was because of its people. It has become what it is because of its politicians. The people are no longer represented, they’re led . . . like dogs on leashes. Welcome to the future.
I did not give up on my hometown; my hometown quit me. Beyond that, GO BREW CREW!
Anyone that didn’t know that Fitz was dirty just hasn’t been paying attention. There is nothing more sickening than a dirty prosecutor. It’s worse than a dirty cop.
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