Patrick Fitzgerald and the Kabuki Dance of the Valerie Plame Thing
Hugo Floriani, Investigative Reporter
Why would James B. Comey appoint Patrick Fitzgerald as Special Counsel on a case that was already solved?
Why would he even appoint a Special Counsel at all when Richard Armitage, the man responsible for exposing the identity of CIA employee Valerie Plame to the media, had already confessed and had not even hired an attorney to represent him?
Who is James B. Comey?
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James B. Comey, Jr. (born December 14, 1960) was U.S.Deputy Attorney General in the George W. Bush's administration. As Deputy A.G., Comey was the second-highest ranking official in the Department of Justice (DOJ). He ran the day-to-day operations of the DoJ, serving in that office from December 2003-August 2005.
Comey had been U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York before becoming Deputy A.G.
In December 2003, he appointed his close friend and former colleague, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, to be the Special Counsel leading the investigation into the Valerie Plame leak after Attorney General John Ashcroft recused himself.
In August 2005, Comey left the DOJ and became General Counsel and Senior Vice President at Lockheed Martin. From there he went on to Bridgewater Associates in June 2010.
________________________________________________________________________________________
In 2009, Comey’s total compensation package at Lockheed Martin was 6,113,797. Apparently, no one in the media cared that Lockheed worked closely with the Cohen Group where Marc Grossman was Vice Chairman.
Grossman was a key figure in Patrick Fitzgerald's quest to find out who leaked that Valarie Plame worked for the CIA.
Before Fitzgerald’s investigation team even bought their office supplies, Comey and Fitz knew that Armitage had, innocently he claimed, leaked the knowledge about Valarie Plame to, now deceased, columnist Bob Novak.
Comey left Lockheed to work at Bridgewater Associates and then, after a short stay at Bridgewater, he became a partner with Attorney General Eric Holder's former law firm, Covington & Burling.
What do Lockheed Martin and the Cohen Group have in common? Did they have any vested interests in Iraq or Afghanistan while Fitzgerald was chasing down the phantom leaker? Did the old media ever explore that possibility?
Has any reporter ever asked Fitzgerald or Comey why a phantom leaker was sought after the real leaker had already confessed? Did any Tribune or Sun Times reporter ever pose that question to Fitz?
Has anyone asked former New York Times writer Judith Miller how she feels about having spent nearly three months in jail after Fitz already knew that Armitage was the leaker? Does that make her a victim of wrongful imprisonment?
What does Scooter Libby say about all this?
And, lastly, did Fitzgerald or Comey violate any laws during this Kabuki dance?
Many questions – no media interest – hence, no answers. Nothing to see here folks, move along. It’s the Chicago Way.
Next..... Where did Dick Armitage eventually land?
Chicago Tribune reporter John Chase talks about Rezko’s friend and sponsor
Ernie Souchak, Editor-in-Chief
Trib reporter John Chase knows much about Dr. Ronald Michael, the mystery man pictured with George W. Bush at a fundraiser sponsored by Antoin “Tony” Rezko.
Chase told a source that Tony Rezko lived with the Michael family when he came to Chicago from Lebanon as a young man. Chase said that Michael was involved with Rezko in securing reconstruction contracts in Iraq. And, that Michael was trying to get Federal and Illinois state funding for a project involving property he owned in Iraq.
When pressed for details, Chase would not disclose where the monies would come from, nor for what purposes they’d be granted.
Chase was also the first to confirm that the “John Doe” filed lawsuit against the Sun Times was filed by Dr. Ronald Michael. Furthermore, Chase confirmed that Michael threatened to sue Chase and the Trib if he, Chase, outed him as Mr. Doe.
Michael's threat worked.
John Chase, who has much to tell about the mystery man who, according to Chase, gave convicted felon Tony Rezko his start in Chicago, has never told Tribune readers what he knows.
Oh, did we mention that Michael was on the Blagojevich $25,000 Donor Clout List? And that Michael’s name also appeared on a list of possible appointees to the Illinois Health Planning Board with the initials “TR” next to it?
Michael was not appointed to the Planning Board, but his friends Dr. Fortunee Massuda, Dr. Michel Malek, and Dr. Imad Almanaseer were.
Michael followed the banking route instead, and that venture will cost the FDIC over $3,000,000. (Stand by, we’ll have more on the bank thing later.)
Why would someone who purports to be a "journalist and author" leave out such relevant, interesting and important information from his articles and book?
John, you saving the good stuff for a screenplay, or what?
Meanwhile, the Valarie Plame story is falling apart. Who will have the most interesting story there - once-jailed New York Times journalist Judith Miller, or John Chase?
Eavesdropping on the Sun Times Chutzpa
Annabel Kent, Chicago Media Critic & Thomas Barton, Political Commentator
Recently, the chutzpa of the Chicago Sun Times was on full display in their reporting of events involving employees of Mayor Rahmbo’s City Hall recording their phone conversation with Chicago Tribune reporters.
The act of recording the reporters without their knowledge is a felony in Illinois. Recently, there have been high profile eavesdropping cases that are being scrutinized, or to Illinois’ shame, not being scrutinized.
One case in particular, that illustrates the hypocrisy of the current situation on so many different levels, was brought against Annabel Melongo who was jailed as a political prisoner in Crook County for over a year-and-a-half.
Crook County’s Political Prisoner
Here is what one of the Times’ investigative “Watch Dog” reporters, Carol Marin, wrote about how Mayor Rahmbo handled the Tribune eavesdropping episode:
So, is Carol Marin, now, finally, taking up the cause for Annabel Melongo who was wrongly-incarcerated for 20 months?
Or, did the Times, via Marin, just aim to send the Tribune, and anyone else who might consider making an issue of Rahmbo’s City Hall violating eavesdropping laws, a message that he/she will open the can of worms known as the Save-A-Life-Foundation Scandal if the scrutiny of City Hall does not cease immediately?
(Oh, BTW, the Illinois Attorney General is allegedly investigation the Save-A-Life Foundation’s questionable money reporting – “allegedly” is the operative word.)
We are guessing the latter – that Marin/Times sent a message to back off their guy Rahmbo.
Although, incurably optimistic, we do hope against hope that the Times is preparing to expose the all-too-common practice of imprisoning people for political reasons in "The Peoples Republic of Cook County”. Hey, we can dream.
P.S.: One of the Time’s “Watch Dogs” told a writer for Andrew Breitbart’s Big Journalism in 2010 that the Time’s editors told that reporter not to report on the Melongo case because “there wasn’t time to do the story justice”.
Open message for Rep. Darrell Issa, Re: John Chase of the Chicago Tribune
Ernie Souchak, Editor-in-Chief
When John Chase of the Chicago Tribune testifies about the part he played in derailing U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's multi-year, multi-million dollar investigation of corruption in Illinois, don't forget to have him explain what he knows about the man pictured with President George W. Bush at the Bush/Cheney fundraiser held in Chicago in 2003 that Antoin "Tony" Rezko co-sponsored.
You can ask Fitz later.
Developing story....
Why are Blagojevich’s attorney’s silent?
Ernie Souchak, Editor-in-Cheif, Illinois PayToPlay & Hugo Floriani, Investigative Reporter
Why are Blago’s attorneys silent in the face of the Tribune’s claim that there’s absolutely nothing, nada, zilch, on the Blago tapes to support their assertion of Blago’s innocence?
How come Blago’s attorneys are not standing outside the U.S. Attorney's Ofiice screaming about how access to the tapes and transcripts was given exclusively to the two Trib reporters?
The two reporters-authors of Golden claim there is nothing on the fed’s wiretaps of Blago’s phone conversations to suggest that Blago is innocent.
Recall that Sam Adam, Jr. was the lead attorney for Blago back in 2009 when Blago’s legal defense team agreed to the protective order dealing with the government’s evidence.
Throughout that episode, we were led to believe that Judge James Zagel restricted Blago and his attorneys from discussing the content of Blago’s phone calls recorded by the feds.
But now we know that wasn’t true and that there was, and still is, absolutely nothing, nada, zilch, preventing Blago and/or his brother, Robert Blagojevich, from talking about the recorded conversations.
On Dec 8, 2011, Sam Adam, Jr. went on the record saying,“I’ve said this from day one, having listened to them – not just talking, having listened to them – I honestly believe in my gut, there is no doubt that this trial would have been different. I honestly believe there is no doubt that this case would have been different, and if I’m wrong, why can’t we hear them now?”
Well, that’s a crystal clear statement. But wait…
The Trib reporters-authors, John chase and Jeff Coen, who’ve now listened to the tapes, have stated, for the record, that there is nothing on them supporting claims of Blago’s innocence.
So, how come Adam isn’t standing outside the Federal Building, wearing a sandwich board reading “Free Blago,” and screaming, "Why the hell can't we hear the tapes - Now?"
And, what’s more, why didn’t Adam call John Chase to testify in Blago’s trial? What’s up with that?
Oh, and by the way, Sam Adam, Jr. has been named as a possible candidate to replace Jesse Jackson, Jr. as part of a pending Jackson plea agreement. But, of course, that would have nothing to do with all this Blago stuff, would it?
Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.
Rod Blagojevich made a deal
Ernie Souchak, Editor-in-Chief
Illinoispaytoplay.com has learned that Blagojevich’s attorneys’decision to not call John Chase to testify in their client’s trial was part of a backroom negotiation to insure that Blago spent little time behind bars.
We’ve also been told to expect Blago to be released from prison…soon.
You’ll remember that Chase is the Chicago Tribune reporter who informed Blago that John Wyma was co-operating with the U.S. Attorney, and that the feds were recording Blago.
Chase recently revealed, in the book entitled Golden, that the U.S. Attorney's Office leaked information about their investigation of Blago to the Trib.
Additionally, Chase revealed that he and co-author Jeff Coen, another Trib reporter, were given exclusive access to the federal government’s tapes and transcripts of the Blago wiretaps.
While this story unfolds, ponder these questions:
(1) Why would Blagojevich’s attorneys not call the one witness who represents a serious problem for the prosecution (After all, Patrick Fitzgerald had established a precedent in cases involving leaks to the press)?
(2) Why would the Feds give Chase exclusive access to the tapes and transcripts of government wiretaps after he derailed their investigation by revealing the existence of said wiretaps?
(3) If what Chase and Coen assert in their book is true, that there’s nothing on the Blago tapes worth reporting, why do the feds refuse to make the tapes/transcripts public? And why were they sealed in the first place?
(4) Why are Blago's attorneys so silent?
(5) Is it a coincidence that former U.S. attorney Patrick Fitzgerald is now Greg Craig's* business partner?
* Greg Craig was Obama's White House Counsel.
The Tribune and Sun Times: Enemies of Chicago’s People
Editorial Board
Former pollster for Jimmy Carter, and long-time Democrat Pat Caddell, is not a conservative Republican, is not a Tea Party person, and has never been a Republican. He recently called the American media an “enemy of the American people”.
He delivered that accusation before the Accuracy in Media organization here, and, more briefly,recently on the FOX network.
We share Caddell’s characterization of the media. And, we think it’s time to bring that criticism home to Chicago.
Chicago’s two largest daily newspapers, the Tribune and the Sun Times, are, and have long been, enemies of Chicago’s people – all of its people.
Their owners and publishers, their editors, their reporters – their entire staffs – are complicit in the level of corruption in this city that has warranted Cook County the reputation as being one of the most corrupt, if not the most corrupt, place in America.
The degree of rot in city, county and state governments could not have been sustained, to such a depth and length, without the complicity of Chicago’s two, largest newspapers.
The Trib and the Times are, in short, the essential enablers of Chicago’s corruption.
They do not, nor have they been for many years, reporters of the news. They manage the flow of news, doing just enough to occasionally give the impression of being watch dogs guarding against municipal malfeasance, or bold sources of information concerning on-going crime sprees.
In fact, they are neither, for they do not fundamentally serve the best interests of Chicago’s people.
They are neither courageous, nor free, nor independent. Consequently,…
They are enemies of Chicago’s people.
To be continued....
Did the Sun Times get played by Patrick Fitzgerald?
Ernie Souchak, Editor-in-Chief
Michael Sneed is the Chicago Sun Times columnist to whom Rod Blagojevich passed false stories that he wanted printed in her paper. This was documented in the Blagojevich trial. Now, it looks like Patrick Fitzgerald has taken a page from Blago’s playbook and followed Blago’s example.
After Fitz publicly scoffed at the idea of joining a private law firm, he…joined a private law firm.
Back on September 24, 2012, Sneed reported that:
“Sneed hears rumbles former U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald may be this/close to joining a prestigious law firm in Chicago. A Sneed source, who claims Fitzgerald had narrowed his choices to three firms, stated: ‘Everyone has been after him to join their firm. I’m told he should be making his decision within the next week or so… Close friends have speculated in the past Fitzgerald would become legal counsel for a large corporation.’"
Okay, so Sneed and the Sun Times’ editors recognized that the report that Fitz was about to flip-flop and go to work for a law firm was news. That was reasonable.
But why are Sneed and the Times silent now when Fitz goes to work for the same law firm that represented Sam Zell and the Chicago Tribune, and, is, also, Greg Craig’s law firm?
Craig, you’ll remember, was the White House Counsel for then President Elect Barack Obama. It was Craig who dealt with Fitz to clear Obama, Emanuel, Jarrett, and Axelrod of any wrong-doing in the saga of Blago’s effort to sell Obama’s Senate seat. Surprise!
Makes you wonder if Fitz used the Sun Times, al la Blago, to distract attention away from the real story, doesn’t it?
Developing.....
HT Advance Indiana; Patrick Fitzgerald Joins Law Firm Of Obama's Former White House Counsel
Issa’s committee investigates Chicago USAO
<BREAKING NEWS>
Ernie Souchak, Editor-in -Chief, Illinois PayToPlay
A confidential source, familiar with the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), has informed illinoispaytoplay.com that Issa's committee is conducting a preliminary investigation into the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois (USAO) pertaining to USAO leaks to the media that may represent an obstruction of justice.
The source further informs IP2P that the inquiry is focused on claims made within a recently-released book written by two Chicago Tribune reporters. The book states that the authors were given exclusive access to transcripts and tapes of government wiretaps in the case against Rod Blagojevich; and, that sensitive information had been previously leaked from the USAO to the Trib.
According to the book, one of the authors, John Chase, was chosen by his editors to notify Blagojevich that his phone calls were being monitored by federal agents. Chase completed that assignment the night before a scheduled meeting between Blagojevich and someone attempting to purchase a U.S. Senate seat for Cong. Jesse Jackson, Jr. Four days later, FBI agents arrested the then sitting Governor of Illinois at his home.
Weekly Standard reviews Tribune reporters’ book on Blago
Annabel Kent, Chicago Media Critic
Washington Examiner local opinion editor, Barbara Hollingsworth, has written a review of the recently released book about former Illinois Governor Rod “Blago” Blagojevich, entitled Golden, written by Chicago Tribune reporters John Chase and Jeff Coen.
Hollingsworth’s review appears in the Weekly Standard here. It is entitled “The Blago File,” and states that,
“[M]ore serious readers seeking answers to questions raised about former U.S. attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s multiyear, multimillion-dollar investigation will not find them here. Major omissions in Coen and Chase’s otherwise meticulously detailed narrative regarding the Tribune’s own role in tipping off Blagojevich that he was under wiretap surveillance ultimately render their account incomplete.”
Hollingsworth exposes several of the book’s “major omissions” in her 1,200-words review, and refers to
“incredulous bloggers” at Illinoispaytoplay.com who have been openly skeptical about the Tribune reporters’ account of the Blago Fitzgerald episode.
Developing…
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Links
- Big Government
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- Doug Ross @ Journal
- Illinois Review
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- PeterLance.com
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