By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com It’s not that Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has to worry about his career. But on Monday, he got some redemption when a federal jury convicted the ever-too chatty ex-Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich on 17 of 20 public corruption charges. It was the second trial. The first had a rather embarrassing outcome….
Norm Coleman smiling (probably because he has generous friends) By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com I have some lousy friends, particularly those with money. They haven’t lavished me with tens of thousands of dollars in gifts. Maybe a beer. Maybe a meal. And oh yes, one once gave me a Jerry Springer “Uncensored” video for my birthday….
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com WASHINGTON –– I have mixed feelings about the White House proposal to have FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III stay two years more beyond his 10-year term, which expires in September. The opinions of newspaper editorial boards around the country reflect my ambivalence. All recognize the need for continuity in such…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com WASHINGTON — Whether you agree with Atty. General Eric Holder Jr. or not, most reasonable people would conclude that he’s a pretty decent guy and a straight shooter. That being said, it makes his appearance before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday all the more disappointing. I’m referring to his exchange…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Sixteen years ago today, America was served up one horrific surprise: The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City: 168 people died. It was shocker. At the time — April 19, 1995 – as a reporter at the Detroit News, I called around to federal law enforcement people,…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com WASHINGTON — ATF has stepped into a big pile of manure and it hasn’t been doing a very good job of trying to clean off its boots. I’m referring to the dust up over Operation Fast and Furious , a program out of Arizona in which ATF let “straw purchasers” buy…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Imagine taxpayers spending millions of dollars collectively trying an Illinois governor, and in the end, the case all but collapses. The jurors only convict on one of 24 counts . They end up deadlocked on the rest. Imagine that. Yes,it’s not too hard, considering it happened in the first trial of…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com WASHINGTON – Though the FBI and Justice Department are thoroughly convinced that scientist Bruce Ivins mailed the deadly anthrax letters in 2001, it seems almost inevitable now that some very costly and protracted public hearing will be conducted to review the whole case. Unfortunately, Ivins killed himself in July 2008 before…
