Prosecutor Fitzgerald Again at Center Stage

Dec. 10, 2008— -- He's brought down governors, prosecuted terrorists, investigated the CIA leak scandal and made a famous list of "sexiest men."

It's no wonder top career officials at the Justice Department admitted to ABC News that they'd like to clone U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.

He's handled some of the most high profile cases at the Justice Department and is widely known for his intense work ethic. On Monday, the 47-year-old Fitzgerald was before the American people again, telling reporters during a news conference -- shown live across the country -- that an investigation conducted through his office had caught Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, "in the middle of what we can only describe as a political corruption crime spree."

Among other things, Blagojevich allegedly tried to sell President-elect Obama's former U.S. Senate seat in exchange for political favors and contributions. It was conduct, Fitzgerald said, that "would make Lincoln roll over in his grave."

The son of Irish immigrants, the Brooklyn, N.Y., native worked as a doorman and a janitor to pay his way through college. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Amherst College in 1982 and proceeded to Harvard Law School, obtaining his degree in 1985. Fitzgerald joined the Justice Department in 1988, after three years at the New York law firm Christy & Viener.

He rose through the ranks at Justice, prosecuting mob and terrorism cases at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan. He worked on the case of the "Blind Sheikh," Omar Abdel Rahman, and other defendants in the 1993 World Trade Center bombings, and oversaw the investigation of the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.