NY Times columnist Kristof misstated Fitzgerald's "prime mandate"
New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof questioned the motives behind special counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald's investigation into the alleged outing of undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame by wrongly claiming Fitzgerald "is said to be mulling indictments that aren't based on his prime mandate, investigation of possible breaches of the 1982 law prohibiting officials from revealing the names of spies." Fitzgerald's mandate, however, was not limited to the 1982 Intelligence Identities Protection Act, or any other single federal law.
In his October 25 column (subscription required), Kristof commented on "the harm that special prosecutors can do":
Special prosecutors always seem to morph into Inspector Javert, the Victor Hugo character [from the novel Les Miserables] whose vision of justice is both mindless and merciless. We don't know what evidence has been uncovered by Patrick Fitzgerald, but we should be uneasy that he is said to be mulling indictments that aren't based on his prime mandate, investigation of possible breaches of the 1982 law prohibiting officials from revealing the names of spies.
As Media Matters for America noted, Fitzgerald was assigned with a broad mandate to investigate the alleged leak of Plame's identity as a CIA operative. According to his official delegation as a special counsel (reprinted in a 2004 Government Accountability Office decision paper), Fitzgerald was granted "all the authority of the Attorney General with respect to the [Justice] Department's investigation into the alleged unauthorized disclosure of a CIA employee's identity." The delegation made no mention of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act or any other specific statute.
Indeed, Fitzgerald's plenary authority was confirmed in a February 6, 2004, letter sent by then-acting Attorney General James B. Comey in response to a request from Fitzgerald for clarification that the original delegation conferred such authority. Comey wrote:
At your request, I am writing to clarify that my December 30, 2003, delegation to you of "all the authority of the Attorney General with respect to the Department's investigation into the alleged unauthorized disclosure of a CIA employee's identity" is plenary and includes the authority to investigate and prosecute violations of any federal criminal laws related to the underlying alleged unauthorized disclosure, as well as federal crimes committed in the course of, and with intent to interfere with, your investigation, such as perjury, obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence, and intimidation of witnesses; to conduct appeals arising out of the matter being investigated and/or prosecuted; and to pursue administrative remedies and civil sanctions (such as civil contempt) that are within the Attorney General's authority to impose or pursue.
Nice setup.
Looks like the lefties set out fishing for lobster but are now willing to settle for carp.
With respect to Bill Clinton, the righties set out looking for the great white whale and settled for plankton.
And were unable to catch that, either.
Funny how conservatives are willing to forgo "law and order" when several of their own get caught breaking the law.... All of the sudden conspiracy to obstruct justice and perjury are not a big deal. Keep talking, you need to dig the hole big enough for the entire cast of Fox and co.
In the Republican ideology, "Law and order" are only to be applied to black guys who dress like rappers or hard-working immigrants. It was never meant to be applied to rich white men in suits.
I am surprised he didn't write about the "criminalization of politics" and how perjury or obstruction isn't a "real" crime either. No, he is a "liberal" journalist working at a "liberal" paper according to conservatives.
Indeed.
This is the first of many egregious distortions and falsehoods that have been put forth by the GOP and been subsequently debunked by progressive sources, including MMFA.
It's really amazing that they keep repeating these even after they've shown to be false.
Department = Justice Dept.
"The Department, in appointing Special Counsel Fitzgerald under “other law”, has afforded him independence by delegating all of the Attorney General’s authority with respect to the investigation and instructing him to exercise that authority independent of the control of any officer of the Department."
I have a way that Bushco can get Fitzgerald off of their backs, appoint him to the Supreme Court.