Two weeks ago, U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald announced the indictment of former Illinois Gov. George Ryan. Two years ago, he won convictions of people tied to Al Qaeda for their roles in the deadly bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa.
Now Fitzgerald will head the investigation of the Bush administration seeking to find out who leaked the identity of a CIA operative.
Deputy Atty. Gen. James Comey and Fitzgerald are close friends, and Comey’s trust in Chicago’s top federal prosecutor was a key factor behind Tuesday’s appointment.
Comey, announcing the appointment in Washington, noted what he called Fitzgerald’s “sterling reputation for integrity and impartiality.”
Because he headed the Justice Department’s major terrorism prosecutions before the Sept. 11 attacks, Fitzgerald also has extensive experience dealing with intelligence information, which Comey also noted.
David Kelley, a top federal prosecutor in New York, said Fitzgerald’s independence will pay dividends in the investigation.
“If the prosecutor’s motto is to follow the facts wherever they lead, Pat Fitzgerald is the guy who wrote that motto,” said Kelley, who has worked closely with Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald, 43, was an assistant U.S. attorney in New York before coming to Chicago in 2001. In New York he prosecuted organized crime and terrorists, including some of those responsible for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
He also won the convictions of several members of the Gambino crime family.
His selection as U.S. attorney in Chicago by Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.), who is not related to him, bucked a tradition of naming a Chicago attorney to the post.
After arriving in Chicago, Fitzgerald inherited Operation Safe Road, a federal investigation into state corruption. On Dec. 17, Fitzgerald announced the indictment of Ryan.
Fitzgerald and his office also have indicted people with connections to some of the biggest names in Illinois politics, including members of the Duff family, campaign contributors to Mayor Richard Daley, and Ryan friend Larry Warner.
The son of Irish immigrants, Fitzgerald grew up in New York, where his dad was a doorman at an apartment building. Fitzgerald worked as a doorman and a janitor to pay his way through Amherst College, graduating with honors.
Fitzgerald, a graduate of Harvard Law School, joined the U.S. attorney’s office in New York in 1988.
