Various articles concerning Blagojevich and Obama mention that prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's future as an appointed U.S. Attorney is unclear in the new administration. Yet none of them were able to Nexis up these quotes (via TPM)?
Asked for comment, an Obama transition aide pointed us to a June 5 article in the Chicago Tribune which noted that Obama had been asked if he would keep Fitzgerald in an editorial board meeting with the paper in several months earlier. His reply (via Nexis):
"I still think he's doing a good job. Yes."
Asked why he would keep him, Obama continued:
"I think he has been aggressive in putting the city on notice and the state on notice that he takes issues of public corruption seriously."
Sounds like the president-elect was already ready to keep Fitzgerald around, and precisely because he's the kind of guy who would arrest a corrupt governor.
--Tim Fernholz
