Wayne Madsen Report

Wayne Madsen Report
July 29, 2005 -- Ex-GOP Senator Warns Bush administration planning to fire Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald as US Attorney for Chicago. The Chicago Tribune is reporting today that former Republican Senator Peter Fitzgerald, who championed current CIA leak Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald for appointment as US Attorney for Chicago in Sept. 2001, is warning that because of the U.S. Attorney's high profile criminal investigations of former GOP Gov. George Ryan and Democratic Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, he may not be reappointed to his post when his four year term expires in late October. If Bush fails to nominate a replacement and Fitzgerald is not renominated, he will be able to serve as US Attorney until a replacement is named. It may not be coincidental that the Grand Jury investigating top White House officials for leaking the name of a covert CIA agent will also expire in October if it is not re-impaneled on a request by Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald. With the clock potentially running out for Patrick Fitzgerald, if there are indictments in the CIA leak, they will likely be issued within the next few months. Peter Fitzgerald, who is not related to the Special Prosecutor, believes that House Speaker Dennis Hastert, as the dean of the Illinois congressional delegation, will recommend to President Bush that Fitzgerald not be reappointed as U.S. Attorney. It is no secret that top Illinois Republicans, as well as the Daley political machine, are gunning for Patrick Fitzgerald. Daley has been a major supporter of Bush's foreign policy who joined the GOP in criticizing Illinois Democratic Senator Richard Durbin for his remarks about the interrogation tactics used on prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. It is doubtful Patrick Fitzgerald would be kept on as Special Prosecutor by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales if he is rejected by the White House for a second term as US Prosecutor -- a decision that would be seen as a loss in confidence in Fitzgerald by the Bush administration. The recent resignation of Patrick Fitzgerald's friend, career Justice Department prosecutor James Comey, as Deputy Attorney General -- and Fitzgerald's immediate supervisor -- is also a warning sign that the Bush administration is growing uncomfortable with the direction of Fitzgerald's investigation. Comey is to be replaced by Timothy E. Flanigan, a conservative GOP political hack and a Federalist Society colleague of Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts. Flanigan, along with Roberts, was a member of the 2000 Florida GOP recount team. Flanigan was later the general counsel for the scandal-plagued Tyco International Ltd., which is conveniently headquartered in Bermuda as a contrivance to avoid paying U.S. corporate taxes. While at Tyco, Flanigan liaised with tainted GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his Greenberg Traurig law firm.