Patrick Fitzgerald Indicted 60 Republicans vs. 2 Democrats. Nonpartisan?

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Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald is said to be "non-partisan" and "apolitical" - but as U.S. attorney in Chicago, a job he continues to hold as he heads up the Leakgate probe, the targets of his investigations into political corruption have been overwhelmingly Republican.

The media is fond of noting that Fitzgerald, who rocked the Bush administration on Friday with the indictment of Lewis Libby, has indicted two aides to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley - a Democrat.

But reporters seldom note that Fitzgerald's biggest case prior to Leakgate is his ongoing corruption probe into former Illinois Republican Governor George Ryan, who happens to be on trial right now.

Fitzgerald indicted Ryan on corruption charges in December 2003, the same month he was tapped to probe Leakgate, in an investigation that saw more than 60 indictments of Ryan administration figures and political appointees.

For those keeping score on Mr. Fitzgerald's political targets, the count currently stands at 60-plus Republicans vs. 2 Democrats - not counting Mr. Libby.
One aspect of Fitzgerald's Chicago prosecution has rankled more than a few observers - his decision to indict the fiance of his star witness against Ryan.

Top Ryan aide Scott Fawell had repeatedly protested that he knew of nothing that would implicate Ryan in wrongdoing.

But Fawell was already under indictment by Fitzgerald on separate corruption charges. And when Fitzgerald's team put his fiance, Andrea Coutretsis, on the stand, she lied to protect him.

Fitzgerald indicted Coutretsis on perjury charges and threatened the mother of two with jail. She was warned that she could escape a prison cell only if Fawell turned on Ryan.

"You guys have my head in a vise," Fawell complained to prosecutors as they dangled leniency for his girlfriend. But in the end the pressure worked and Fawell flipped.
Reacting to Fitzgerald's hardball tactics earlier this month, Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn wrote: "The image that comes to mind is not so much a head in vise as that famous 1973 National Lampoon cover, 'If You Don't Buy This Magazine, We'll Kill This Dog.'"

Zorn continued: "Were you or I to use such powerful leverage to get someone to testify on our behalf, it would be a crime . . . There's a grim amorality to the feds linking [Coutretsis'] prison sentence to [Fawell's] performance on the witness stand this month."

In 1998, when then-Independent Counsel Ken Starr was accused of threatening to indict Monica Lewinsky's mother to gain Monica's cooperation, the media went wild with outrage.

But now that Mr. Fitzgerald is employing the same tactics against Republicans, the national press has decided to look the other way.