Alum Takes on the White House: Exclusive with Patrick J. Fitzgerald

by Joseph R. Santo, '06

(Apr 5, 2006) - Patrick Fitzgerald ‘78, a well-respected and diligent federal prosecutor, was appointed by George W. Bush as Special Counsel for the ongoing “CIA Leak Case” of October 30, 2003.

The “CIA Leak Case” has the potential to be the “Watergate Scandal” of the Bush administration; the case is predicated upon the disclosure of CIA Officer Valerie Plame’s identity to the media.

While the disclosure of any CIA officer’s identity constitutes a criminal act, the leak of Valerie Plame’s identity in July 2003 has even greater and further-reaching implications. Valerie Plame is the wife of Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, who traveled to Niger in February 2002 to investigate claims that the Iraqis had purchased uranium yellowcake there. Ambassador Wilson reported that an Iraqi purchase of said material was “highly unlikely.”

However, in his 2003 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush said, “The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.” These mere sixteen words incited Ambassador Wilson to publicly rebuke the President. In a Washington Post article of July 6, 2003, Wilson claimed the Bush administration to be “misrepresenting the facts,” asking: “What else are they lying about?”

Only eight days later, a newspaper column by Robert Novak blew the cover of Wilson’s wife: “ Wilson never worked for the CIA, but his wife, Valerie Plame, is an Agency operative on weapons of mass destruction.” Novak wrote, “Two senior administration officials told me Wilson’s wife suggested sending him to Niger to investigate an Italian report.”

The seemingly inconsequential “name dropping” in Robert Novak’s column has opened up a Pandora’s Box for the Bush Administration and for the future respect of the executive branch.

Patrick Fitzgerald has the responsibility to direct the Justice Department’s investigations to hold someone accountable for the leak of Valerie Plame’s identity. Some believe that the disclosure of her identity was a secret political move by the administration to stifle Ambassador Wilson’s protests of the war in Iraq.

Traditionally, the title of Special Counsel is granted to a prosecutor from outside the Justice Department to investigate matters of controversy. The Code of Federal Regulations stipulates that the Attorney General “may request that the Special Counsel provide an explanation for an investigative or prosecutorial step, and may, after review, conclude that the action is so inappropriate or unwarranted under established Departmental practices that it should not be pursued.”

From that code, the Attorney General holds veto power over any outside Special Counsel. Fitzgerald, a Special Counsel from inside the Department of Justice, could not comment on this delegation of authority.

This CIA Leak Investigation has continued for nearly 26 months. One may wonder what takes so long. To this Fitzgerald replied, “I cannot comment on that even for The Owl while this case is still pending trial.”

“The law is often unclear, and where it is unclear, you must make a reasoned judgment about what the law should be,” Fitzgerald commented. In order to make that reasoned judgment, “you must find out the facts as accurately as possible.”

Fitzgerald later explained that all federal prosecutors should have a “sense of what motivates people” since they are “dealing with a lot of very human situations.”

Fitzgerald’s boundless dedication and focus on justice becomes clear in his philosophy of work in the public sector: “If you are going to be working for the federal government, you should be doing what you think is right, as best as you can determine. That does involve working hard and analyzing problems, just as students do at Regis.”

Fitzgerald grew up in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn; his father was a doorman at 14 East 75th Street in Manhattan. An article about Fitzgerald in Vanity Fair adds that Fitzgerald himself worked as a doorman during one summer at 520 East 72 Street. On his astounding success, Fitzgerald made one thing clear: “Regis has a much greater impact on students than they realize when they are there.”

“I appreciated Regis much more once I had graduated,” Fitzgerald noted. “You have nearly a century of people going through the school for free, getting a great education.”

In a tribute to Regis faculty past and present, Fitzgerald said, “there are great teachers at Regis who teach because they want to teach, although they could be doing something else; they are extremely selfless.” Fitzgerald sees Regians as “down-to-earth city kids who go to school and work hard.”

As Fitzgerald went on to college and graduate school, he “felt that Regis made more of an impact than other great institutions because it grabbed me in my teens, teaching me to work hard and think.” After Regis, Fitzgerald attended Amherst College and Harvard Law.

Though the pecuniary reward as private attorney would be much greater, Fitzgerald has pursued the noble path of a federal prosecutor. “I think that people do not realize that when you are a private lawyer, your obligation is to serve your client,” says Fitzgerald. “If your client wants to do something, you have to take that position even if it’s a position that you don’t agree with.”

As a “federal prosecutor, my job every day is to do the right thing,” emphasized Fitzgerald. Working in the federal government is a learning experience and I feel like I am always on the side to pursue justice.” Fitzgerald warns, “In the private sector, you make a lot more money [than in the public sector], but it is a lot less interesting and you do not have the luxury of making your own decisions.”

Considering Fitzgerald’s adamant pursuit of justice in government service, I asked him, “If you were given the opportunity, would you choose to serve in a position of Presidential appointment?” To this Fitzgerald modestly replied, “I do not want to speculate.”

Fitzgerald admitted, “In college, I started to rethink my assumption from high school that I wanted to be a lawyer after being involved in debate at Regis. At the end of college, I was considering if I wanted to study economics or perhaps go into business.”

In the end, Fitzgerald made the choice that he found “more comfortable.” He explained, “I entered law school with some doubts that I wanted to be a lawyer. And I also graduated law school with some doubts.”

In law school, Fitzgerald interned at several law firms. However, his experience at the US Attorney’s Office in Boston influenced his career development most. “I thought the work was great, and it was much more interesting than the work I sought in private firms.” Fitzgerald became confident about his career choice after he finally “got out and actually began to be a lawyer.”

Fitzgerald believes, “We need to make trials as public as possible. But in limited circumstances, there are cases where there is specific information that you feel might compromise national security that you proceed to conduct under seal. And prosecutors do not do that lightly, but we have done that.”

On the morning of February 13, the date of our interview, Fitzgerald watched a colleague argue a case concerning an individual who took the law into his own hands. This was a different case involving The New York Times and a leak. Fitzgerald said, “the government was about to raid a charity that was suspected of being involved in terrorist financing.” However, before the search took place, “the charity had received a call from The New York Times indicating that action was forthcoming.”

The case argued by Fitzgerald’s colleague actually involved “two different charities that were searched twice,” according to Fitzgerald. “The government is concerned about who compromised the search [by revealing it] to The New York Times, who then passed it onto the charity.”

In this case, someone in the government took the law into their own hands, leaking information about a search to The New York Times. Since The New York Times informed the suspect charities, the investigative raid of the government was interrupted. Fitzgerald and the 160 employees of his office seek to pursue justice so individuals do not take the law into their own hands.

“Every day is new and every day is interesting,” remarked Fitzgerald. “I love being a prosecutor; it is a great job, and it is very engaging.”

Although the media portrays Fitzgerald having a “mainframe-computer brain,” these qualities of his character have been exaggerated. “Work hard, but have fun,” Fitzgerald advises Regians. “As much as you take school seriously, you should not take yourself too seriously.”

Fitzgerald believes that “most people only get a window view of my personality since I am dealing with the most serious of offenses.” Often, he will “spend time with friends, go hiking, and do very ordinary things,” and is also “a long time Seinfeld fan.” But, “when I speak as a prosecutor, I am there for a somber occasion. My audience certainly is not interested in what I did that weekend.”

Patrick Fitzgerald rejects the notion that he is only a cold, calculating lawyer. Speaking for his entire staff Fitzgerald said, “I have 160 employees in my office; many have a great sense of humor, and many have outside interests. But they do not wear that on their sleeve when they are going into court and prosecuting a violent criminal.”

Vanity Fair recently published an anecdote concerning Fitzgerald. When a colleague called Fitzgerald’s office to leave him a message at 3 a.m., Fitzgerald allegedly answered the phone. Commenting on this Fitzgerald said, “I have not been in my office at 3 a.m. in a long, long time and I would like to keep it that way.”

This exclusive interview was obtained through the good graces of Patrick Fitzgerald and the intercession of the Regis Alumni Office. The Owl graciously thanks all parties involved.

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