Plame Case: Fitzgerald is Getting Nifonged - Mother Jones

[DoYouEverWonder]

Washington Dispatch: As the Scooter Libby trial begins in D.C., conservatives in the media are trying to undercut the credibility of the prosecution's case by comparing Patrick Fitzgerald to embattled Duke case prosecutor Mike Nifong.

By Daniel Schulman

January 17, 2007

What do Patrick Fitzgerald and Mike Nifong share in common? Not much, beyond the fact that both are prosecutors who have pursued politically fraught cases. But don't tell that to Investor's Business Daily, which published an editorial today calling for "all the rogue prosecutors" to be reigned in. The paper's prime examples of prosecutorial zealotry are Nifong, who recused himself last week from the Duke sexual assault case, and Fitzgerald, whose perjury and obstruction of justice case against Lewis "Scooter" Libby began in D.C. district court on Tuesday. "Like the Duke lacrosse players, Scooter Libby faces jail for alleged involvement in a crime that was never committed, pursued by a vindictive prosecutor," the editorial reasons. "And also like the Duke case, it's a national disgrace."

In lumping Fitzgerald with Nifong, whose case against the Duke lacrosse players appears at best deeply flawed and potentially politically motivated, Investor's Business Daily is only the latest to deploy this disingenuous bait and switch. Making a similar argument in an op-ed last summer, columnist Jack Kelly cast the Plame and Duke cases as part of the same cautionary tale. "This should remind us the greater threat to our civil liberties comes not from the measures the Bush administration has taken to protect us from terrorists, but from prosecutors who abuse their power for political purposes." More recently the columnist posed this question to his readers: "Is to 'fitzgerald' a synonym for to 'nifong?'"

http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2007/01/nifong_fitzgerald.html

[aquart]

1. Oh, they must be so hopeful.

Like Fitzgerald gives a shit.

[illinoisprogressive]

2. Fitzgeralds reputation speaks for itself. Won't stick.

Nor do I think he really cares what the wingers say

[madokie]

3. it'll only make him dig his heals in a bit more. methinks

[napi21]

4. No problem here! Fitz has had lots of stuff said about him before,

and I'm sure will in future cases too! I suspect he'd tell you it comes with the territory. Fitz can take care of himself!

[enigmatic]

5. what a moronic argument

They aren't even remotely alike, and Nifong is 1/100th of the Prosecutor that Fitzgerald is.

[jayctravis]

6. So, let's see...

"...Scooter Libby faces jail for alleged involvement in a crime that was never committed, pursued by a vindictive prosecutor,"

With Clinton, what they finally nailed him on was a charge that would not have occurred had he not been prosecuted by a vindictive prosecutor. Ken Starr started on Clinton for one thing and ended up going around the world and back again after something completely different, and finally only got him on the ground that he "lied" during the questioning.

Hey, does this mean we can impeach Libby somehow?

[Catherine Vincent]

7. I smell desperation.

How dare they compare Fitzgerald to Nifong? Nifong and Starr maybe.

[jaysunb]

8. I still believe the original case is still alive

:tinfoilhat:

[WinkyDink]

9. Well, let's see...maybe I'LL liken Fitz to Vince Bugliosi! That whole

"put them all away" kind of success.

[Dogmudgeon]

10. How about this scenario --

Scooter is Super Jesus, and Fitz is Gay Hitler.

That should work just as well.

--p!
You don't fuck with The Jesus.

[AlCzervik]

11. Fitzgerald isn't Ken Starr no matter how the rw tries to make that so.

[originalpckelly]

12. See for Fitz to be Nifonged, he'd have to prosecute someone for political reasons...

totally unrelated to the case.

[Catherine Vincent]

13. Investor's Business Daily is your typical right wing rag

Here's more of their claptrap:


http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=241744137262638

Did Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald Lie?
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

Posted 8/29/2006

Plamegate: Patrick Fitzgerald's three-year manhunt to track down who blew Valerie Plame's CIA "cover" has been exposed as a costly sham. He apparently knew all along that his man was not Scooter Libby.

When Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, was assigned the Plame case, he was hailed as a paragon of integrity. He'd helped convict Mafia boss John Gotti, the 1993 World Trade Center bombers and former Illinois Republican Gov. George Ryan, who'll be sentenced next month on 22 counts of bribery and racketeering.

But it's hard to see anything but politics as the motivation for Fitzgerald's handling of the Plame affair. The facts indicate that Fitzgerald knew early on that the original leaker was State Department official Richard Armitage. So why did Fitzgerald let a cloud hang over White House adviser Karl Rove's head for so long? And why is Fitzgerald continuing to hound Libby, the former vice presidential chief of staff?