The Man Who Could Rock the Bush Administration
Oct. 27, 2005— -- Patrick Fitzgerald's team worked late into the night after spending three hours before a grand jury that has the power to hand up indictments in the CIA leak probe that could rock the Bush administration. Those who know Fitzgerald best, predict those indictments are imminent.
"He would have shut this down sooner had he known that there wasn't going to be indictments at the end of the day," said Joshua Berman, a former colleague of Fitzgerald.
Many who have worked with him describe Fitzgerald as determined, meticulous, intense -- a man with a perfect memory. President Bush has called Fitzgerald's conduct dignified and acknowledged the gravity of his task.
"This is a serious investigation," Bush said.
Fitzgerald has a history of conducting serious investigations. As a U.S. attorney in New York he jailed mobsters and terrorists, indicted Osama bin Laden years before most Americans had heard of al Qaeda and now is currently also investigating charges of corruption at Chicago's Democratic city hall.
Ron Safer, a criminal defense attorney who has gone up against Fitzgerald, says Fitzgerald is fair and apolitical.
"He is driven by an overwhelming desire to get to what he believes to be the just result," Safer said. "I think that he is the perfect man for this role."
Fitzgerald is the son of a doorman who worked his way through college as a custodian. He's single, and commutes between Washington and Chicago where he is the city's top federal prosecutor.
He has also been described as a workaholic. According to one friend he is so rarely at home he once cooked lasagna and left it in the oven for three months without realizing it.
"I think after that he had his gas turned off in his apartment and never used it again," said Amy Millard, a former colleague.
Colleagues and friends had the same advice for anyone who sits in Fitzgerald's witness chair.
"Be honest," Berman said. "People are going to learn the hard way that it doesn't make sense to lie to Pat."