What Will Obama Do With Patrick Fitzgerald?

Many, many issues coming out of today's bombshell indictment of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on charges that he tried to sell Barack Obama's old Senate seat to the highest bidder in order to enrich himself. We're going to try to cover some of the more interesting stories coming out of this, at least as we see.

One topic that I think is really interesting is what will happen to Patrick Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald is the sitting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and as many of you know, he was the special counsel in charge of the Plamegate matter which resulted in the conviction of former Dick Cheney Chief of Staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Fitzgerald has obtained scores of convictions in his post as USA, and is well-established as an Eliot Ness-type figure. In the process, he has become a nationally-known figure. This case will only increase that stature.

Why is any of this important? Well, it is because Fitzgerald's post comes up in just a few weeks. United States Attorneys are presidential appointments, and generally at the end of an administration, every one of them is not renewed in his her post, just like all key executive branch appointments. Sure, they are some holdovers, but the overwhelming majority are not brought back for obvious political reasons. They are not technically fired, but in a way these types of appointees are fired.

This begs the question of what will happen to Fitzgerald. On the one hand, like every other major political appointee in the Bush administration, Fitzgerald should be a goner. However, on the other hand he is just beginning one of the most important corruption cases in some time. It is not every day that a sitting governor is charged in an incredibly juicy indictment like the one present in this case. Therefore, it might be better politically for the incoming administration if Fitzgerald were retained in his post. More importantly, were he forced from his job next month, Obama could be attacked for making a political move in order to protect Blagojevich.

Obama is in a very sticky situation. In just about any other situation, he would be able to replace Fitzgerald and no one would notice or care. It happens every four or eight years. But this is different. It involves a major case, and it is right in Obama's homestate. Plus, while Fitzgerald was appointed by Bush, he is not a Republican, and he has few friends in the GOP with his prosecution of Scooter Libby. In fact, Fitzgerald was appointed to help clean up Chicago at the urging of Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, one of Obama's closest political confidants.

I have no doubt that Obama will face some pressure from powerful figures back in Illinois to oust Fitzgerald. Men like Mayor Daley and others are probably terrified right now: Fitzgerald is relentless, and who knows what figures he could target going forward. Clearly, he has no problem indicting powerful people in either party.

My inital instinct was that it would be politically wise for Obama not to reappoint Fitzgerald. My reasons for this were that Fitzgerald would be totally his own man (as he should be, but we're talking about politics here), and potentially uncontrollable in terms of dictating his actions from Washington. Additionally, while Obama would encounter some initial fallout, all of that would be nothing compared to having to deal with Fitzgerald for another eight years, as any reappointment would let him sit in the job for as long as he wanted.

However, I have changed my mind. I think the fallout would probably be too great and not worth it. With all of the howling that came out when the Alberto Gonzales Justice Department tried to replace so many U.S. Attorneys, I am sure Obama not bringing back Fitzgerald would cause huge issues he would want to avoid. (I realize the Bush firings were different as they were his own USAs while Fitzgerald is not an Obama appointee, but I don't think the media or the public would appreciate this distinction). And if the Obama administration is even considering this issue, if I were a shrewd Republican, I would call on Obama to reappoint Fitzgerald, and perhaps bring it up during confirmation hearings for incoming Attorney General Eric Holder. Now that would be smart.

In the end, though, I see Obama bringing Fitzgerald back. It makes the most sense. He and some of his political allies may be uneasy about it, but I think Obama may be stuck with Patrick Fitzgerald for the long-haul. When Fitzgerald indicted Scooter Libby, Democrats rejoiced and praised him with Republicans cursed his name. We may see a reversal of fortunes in the future.