Reply #58: I think it would take Fitz himself committing a crime to justify removal. [View All]

[robertpaulsen]

More from the article:

Not only was it Comey's intention to prepare Fitzgerald for the coming assault on his legally mandated plenary authority by vesting him with complete autonomous rule, but the GAO, through their approval of "permanent indefinite appropriations" to perpetually fund Fitzgerald's office, at the request of the Justice Department, has made a strong legal argument, in Decision B-302582, that Fitzgerald has all of the protections and authority normally granted to an independent prosecutor under the expired independent counsel law.

snip

Q: Could you fire Fitzgerald?

MR. COMEY: That's a great question. (Laughter.) Now I believe that I could revoke the delegation of authority that I've given to him. I don't believe that I could --

He appears to believe he could revoke the delegation of authority, but that he couldn't outright fire him. The answer is clearly nebulous. Comey even says, "That's a great question". He never says equivocally whether he could remove Fitzgerald. He appears to be waffling.

But this press conference took place on December 30, 2003. Decision B-302582 was dated September 30, 2004. Comey wasn't sure back on December 30, 2003, whether or not he could remove Fitzgerald or even limit his authority. But since that time, DOJ created a very convincing argument for their presentation to the GAO. The GAO bought that argument hook, line and sinker agreeing that Fitzgerald has all of the protection and authority granted by the expired independent counsel law. This means his office of the Special Counsel is legally protected from interference by anybody at DOJ, President Bush or anybody else that breathes air on planet Earth.


I think this means that the only person who could remove Fitzgerald is Fitzgerald, by abusing the law. Everything I've read on Fitzgerald is that he is like Caesar's wife, above reproach. Which means the only way the misadministration can get rid of Fitzgerald is by resorting to illegal methods.

The question then is what methods might they be willing to resort to?