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. The jury convicted Blago on only 1 of 24 counts, and that was for lying to the FBI, a charge that was not really central to the meat of the case.
What made matters worse, before the first trial, Fitzgerald held a press conference after arresting Blago in December 2008 and displayed a lot of swagger. Some thought he was a little over the top.
Could this redemption help Fitzgerald’s chances of becoming the next FBI director when the job comes up in a couple years?
Possibly.
He fits the bill. The White House tends to prefer someone with a law degree like the current director Robert S. Mueller III, who is expected to get a two-year extension on his 10-year term.
Before the White House decided to propose a two year extension for Mueller, it began looking for his replacement.
Initially, Fitzgerald’s was one of the names most often heard inside the Beltway.
But his swagger at the press conference and the dismal verdict seemed to sour some people. His name seemed to fade.
With the latest results in the Blago case, who knows?
Maybe he’ll be back in the race for the FBI director job.
Whatever the case, at least he was able to finally back up the swagger he showed back at the press conference.
