That is no longer the case. With the dramatic arrest on Tuesday morning of Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, Fitzgerald has proved, once again, his determination–even eagerness–to confront power. He’s done it in Illinois, where his office has convicted not only high-ranking officials in the administration of Mayor Richard Daley, but also the former governor, George Ryan. And he’s done it in Washington, where, as a DOJ special prosecutor, he stopped at nothing to convict I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice-President Dick Cheney, in the Valerie Plame CIA leak case.
The Chicago Tribune has called Fitzgerald “Eliot Ness with a Harvard degree.” The son of a Manhattan doorman, he has long shown a near-religious dedication to the job of prosecuting federal defendants, be they terrorists who blew up American embassies in Africa, Blagojevich fundraiser Tony Rezko, or media baron Conrad Black.
