View source for Patrick Fitzgerald

{{Short description|American lawyer}}
{{other people}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image        = Patrick Fitzgerald official photo.jpg
| office       = [[United States Attorney]] for the [[United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois|Northern District of Illinois]]
| president    = [[George W. Bush]]<br>[[Barack Obama]]
| term_start   = October 21, 2001
| term_end     = June 30, 2012
| predecessor  = Scott Lassar
| successor    = [[Zachary T. Fardon]]
| office1      = [[Special Counsel]] for the [[United States Department of Justice]]
| appointer1   = [[James Comey]]
| term_start1  = December 30, 2003
| term_end1    = March 6, 2007
| predecessor1 = ''Position not in use''
| successor1   = ''Position not in use''
| birth_date   = {{Birth date and age|1960|12|22}}
| birth_place  = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], U.S.
| death_date   = 
| death_place  = 
| party        = [[Independent politician|Independent]]
| spouse       = Jennifer Letzkus
| children     = 2
| education    = [[Amherst College]] {{small|([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])}}<br>[[Harvard University]] {{small|([[Juris Doctor|JD]])}}
}}
'''Patrick J. Fitzgerald''' (born December 22, 1960) is an American attorney and former [[Partner (business rank)|partner]] at the law firm of [[Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/10/22/former-u-s-attorney-patrick-fitzgerald-joins-skaddens-chicago-office/ |title=Former U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald Joins Skadden's Chicago Office |work=CBS News |location=Chicago |date=October 22, 2012 }}</ref>

For more than a decade, until June 30, 2012, Fitzgerald was the [[United States Attorney]] for the [[Northern District of Illinois]].<ref name="Chicago Tribune">{{cite news| url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2012/05/23/us-attorney-patrick-fitzgerald-stepping-down-june-30/|work=Chicago Tribune|title=U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald stepping down June 30|date=2012-05-23}}</ref> Prior to his appointment, he served as Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York from 1988 to 2001,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.skadden.com/professionals/f/fitzgerald-patrick/ |title=Patrick Fitzgerald Partner, Litigation |work=Skadden |location=Chicago |date=October 22, 2012}}</ref> and as Chief of the Organized Crime-Terrorism Unit since December 1995, where he participated in the prosecutions of [[Osama bin Laden]], [[Omar Abdel-Rahman]], and [[Ramzi Yousef]].

As special counsel for the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Special Counsel, Fitzgerald was the federal prosecutor in charge of the investigation of the [[Valerie Plame affair]], which led to the prosecution and conviction in 2007 of Vice President [[Dick Cheney]]'s chief of staff [[Scooter Libby]] for perjury and obstruction of justice.<ref name="boston.com">{{cite news |last=Savage |first=Charlie |title=Ashcroft Steps Aside in Probe Into CIA Leak|newspaper=Boston Globe|date=2003-12-31 |url=http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2003/12/31/ashcroft_steps_aside_in_probe_into_cia_leak|access-date=2006-09-16}}</ref><ref name="writ.news.findlaw.com">{{cite web|title=Why Did Attorney General Ashcroft Remove Himself From The Valerie Plame Wilson Leak Investigation?|work=findlaw.com|date=2004-01-06 |url=http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20040106.html|access-date=2006-09-16}}</ref>

As a federal prosecutor, Fitzgerald led a number of high-profile investigations, including those that led to convictions of Illinois governors [[Rod Blagojevich]] and [[George Ryan]], media mogul [[Conrad Black]], several aides to Chicago mayor [[Richard M. Daley]] in the [[Hired Truck Program]], and Chicago police detective and torturer [[Jon Burge]].

== Personal ==
Fitzgerald was born in [[Brooklyn]] into a [[Roman Catholic]] family of Irish descent. His father (also named Patrick Fitzgerald) worked as a doorman in [[Manhattan]] and as a security guard at the [[1964 New York World's Fair]] in [[Flushing, Queens]].<ref>{{cite episode |title=Patrick Fitzgerald: The Right Thing |series=The Oath with Chuck Rosenberg |url=https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/msnbc/the-oath-with-chuck-rosenberg/e/62017548}}</ref> Fitzgerald attended Our Lady Help of Christians grammar school, before attending [[Regis High School (New York City)|Regis High School]]. He received degrees in [[economics]] and [[mathematics]] from [[Amherst College]], [[Phi Beta Kappa]], before receiving his [[Juris Doctor|JD]] from [[Harvard Law School]] in 1985.<ref name="Slevin2005">{{cite news|last= Slevin|first=Peter|title=The Prosecutor Never Rests|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=2005-02-02 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55560-2005Feb1.html|access-date=2006-09-16}}</ref>

He played [[Rugby football|rugby]] at Amherst.<ref name="Ref_">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1865756,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081212174451/http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1865756,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 12, 2008 |magazine=Time|first=M.J.|last=Stephey|title=Patrick Fitzgerald|date=2008-12-11}}</ref> At Harvard he was a member of the [[Harvard Business School RFC|Harvard Business School Rugby Club]].

Fitzgerald married Jennifer Letzkus in June 2008.<ref name="Ref_a">[https://abc7chicago.com/archive/6211598/ US Attorney Fitzgerald marries teacher] ''ABC Local'', June 17, 2008</ref><ref name="Ref_b">[https://web.archive.org/web/20081212174451/http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1865756,00.html Patrick Fitzgerald profile], Time.com, December 11, 2008.</ref> They have two children.

== Career ==
=== New York ===
After practicing [[Civil law (common law)|civil law]], Fitzgerald became an Assistant [[United States Attorney]] in New York City in 1988. He handled [[drug trafficking]] cases and in 1993, assisted in the prosecution of [[American Mafia|Mafia]] figure [[John Gambino]], a boss of the [[Gambino crime family]].<ref name="Wilson2005">{{cite news |last=Wilson |first=Jamie |title=Workaholic who earned his spurs taking down the mob|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2005-10-29 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/usa/story/0,12271,1604245,00.html|access-date=2006-09-16|location=London}}</ref> In 1994, Fitzgerald became the prosecutor in the case against [[Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman]] and 11 others charged in the 1993 [[World Trade Center bombing]].<ref name="Harris2006">{{cite news|last=Harris|first=Paul|title=Saint Patrick's Day|newspaper=The Observer|date=2006-02-12 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/feb/12/usa.features|access-date=2006-09-16|location=London}}</ref>

In 1996, Fitzgerald became the National Security Coordinator for the [[U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York|Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York]]. There, he served on a team of prosecutors investigating [[Osama bin Laden]].<ref name="Fitzgerald2003">{{cite web|last=Fitzgerald|first=Patrick|title=Testimony of the Honorable Patrick Fitzgerald before the Senate Judiciary Committee|publisher=[[United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary]]|date=2003-10-21 |url=http://judiciary.senate.gov/testimony.cfm?id=965&wit_id=2741|access-date=2006-09-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060831012016/http://judiciary.senate.gov/testimony.cfm?id=965&wit_id=2741|archive-date=August 31, 2006}}</ref> He also served as chief counsel in prosecutions related to the [[1998 U.S. embassy bombings]] in [[Kenya]] and [[Tanzania]].

=== Illinois ===
On September 1, 2001, Fitzgerald was nominated for the position of U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois on the recommendation of U.S. Senator [[Peter Fitzgerald (politician)|Peter Fitzgerald]] (no relation), a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] from [[Illinois]]. On October 24, 2001, the nomination was [[advice and consent|confirmed]] by the Senate. The senator urged the selection because Patrick Fitzgerald is not from Chicago; Patrick said that he had visited Chicago only one day, for a wedding in 1982, before his selection.<ref name="Ref_c">[http://www.law.com/jsp/tal/PubArticleTAL.jsp?id=1202426694957 U.S. "Attorneys Patrick Fitzgerald of Chicago and James Comey of Manhattan are both tough-minded career prosecutors. They're also best friends"], ''American Lawyer'', December 11, 2008</ref>

Soon after becoming U.S. attorney for Northern Illinois, Fitzgerald began an investigation of political appointees of Republican [[Illinois Governor]] [[George Ryan]], who were suspected of accepting bribes to give licenses to unqualified truck drivers. Fitzgerald soon expanded this investigation, uncovering a network of political bribery and gift-giving, and leading to more than 60 indictments. Ryan was indicted in December 2003. At the conclusion of the trial in April 2006, Ryan was found guilty on all eighteen counts against him. Ryan's co-defendant, Chicago businessman Larry Warner, then 67 years old, was convicted of racketeering conspiracy, fraud, attempted extortion, and money laundering. The two were sentenced on September 6, 2006: Ryan received a sentence of six and one half years, and Warner received a sentence of three years and five months.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16051850 |title=Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan Heading to Prison |first=David |last=Schaper |work=NPR |date=November 6, 2007 |access-date=October 20, 2025}}</ref>

Against criticism that these cases were based on circumstantial evidence, Fitzgerald responded: "People now know that if you're part of a corrupt conduct, where one hand is taking care of the other and contracts are going to people, you don't have to say the word 'bribe' out loud. And I think people need to understand we won't be afraid to take strong circumstantial cases into court."<ref name="Davey2006">{{cite news |last=Davey |first=Monica |author2=Ruethling, Gretchen |title=Former Illinois Governor is Convicted in Graft Case |newspaper=The New York Times |date=2006-04-18 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/18/us/18ryan.html |access-date=2006-09-16 |url-access=limited}}</ref>

[[File:Patrick Fitzgerald.jpg|left|thumb|Fitzgerald - early official portrait]]
On July 18, 2005, his office indicted a number of top aides to Democrat [[Richard M. Daley]], the [[mayor of Chicago]], on charges of [[mail fraud]], alleging numerous instances of corruption in hiring practices at City Hall.<ref name="Eisenberg2005">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1088735,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060106105213/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1088735,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 6, 2006 |title=Ghosts in the Machine |access-date=2008-01-03 |date=2005-08-01 |publisher=[[Time Inc.]] |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |author=Eisenberg, Daniel}}</ref>

In March 2006, former Chicago City Clerk [[James Laski]] pleaded guilty to pocketing nearly $50,000 in bribes for steering city business to two trucking companies. Laski was the highest-ranking Chicago official and Daley administration employee brought down by Fitzgerald's office in conjunction with the [[Hired Truck Program]] scandal. Beginning in April 2007, Fitzgerald oversaw [[Operation Crooked Code]], the investigation and prosecution of more than two dozen defendants for bribery and related charges in Chicago's department of buildings and zoning.<ref name="Coen">{{cite news |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-federal-zoning-probe-webmay23,0,850028.story |work=Chicago Tribune |title=Feds: City building inspectors bribed |first1=Jeff |last1=Coen |first2=Dan |last2=Mihalopoulos |date=2008-05-22}}</ref>

On December 9, 2008, federal agents arrested Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich for conspiring to profit from his authority to appoint President [[Barack Obama]]'s successor to the U.S. Senate. Fitzgerald said Blagojevich "put a 'for sale' sign on the naming of a United States Senator".<ref name="Davey2008">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/09/us/politics/10Illinois.html?hp |title=Illinois Governor Charged in Scheme to Sell Obama's Seat |last=Davey |first=Monica |author2=Jack Healy |work=[[New York Times]] |date=2008-12-09}}</ref>

Senator [[Peter Fitzgerald (politician)|Peter Fitzgerald]] chose not to run for reelection in 2004, leaving Patrick Fitzgerald without a congressional patron. In the summer of 2005, there were rumors that he would not be reappointed to a second four-year term in retaliation for his investigations into corruption in Illinois and Chicago government, as well as for his investigation of the Plame scandal.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}}

On May 23, 2012, Fitzgerald held a press conference informing the public that he was stepping down from his position and retiring as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Federal Court effective June 30, 2012.<ref name="Chicago Tribune" /> Long-time prosecutor Gary S. Shapiro was named U.S. Attorney until a replacement was selected.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2012/06/25/acting-attorney-named-for-chicago-after-fitzgerald-leaves/ |work=Chicago Tribune |title=Acting attorney named for Chicago after Fitzgerald leaves |date=2012-06-25}}</ref> He went into private practice of law and retired a decade later.

In 2013, Fitzgerald was appointed by Governor [[Pat Quinn (politician)|Patrick Quinn]] (Democrat) to the board of trustees for the [[University of Illinois]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Patrick J. Fitzgerald, The University of Illinois Board of Trustees |url=http://www.bot.uillinois.edu/fitzgerald |access-date=March 19, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140710234308/http://www.bot.uillinois.edu/fitzgerald |archive-date=July 10, 2014}}</ref>

=== Private practice ===
Fitzgerald joined [[Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom]] in the firm's Chicago office as a partner, in 2012.<ref>{{cite news|title=Former U.S. Attorney Takes Job at Chicago Law Firm|url=http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Former-US-Attorney-Takes-Job-at-Chicago-Law-Firm-175233091.html|access-date=November 1, 2012|newspaper=NBC News|date=October 22, 2012}}</ref> In June 2023, Fitzgerald retired from the firm.

== Notable cases ==
[[File:Fitzgerald 2009.jpg|thumb|Fitzgerald announces drug trafficking charges at the Department of Justice in 2009.]]

=== Plame investigation ===
{{See also|Plame affair}}
On December 30, 2003, due to [[conflict of interest|conflicts of interest]] then-[[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]] [[John Ashcroft]] recused himself from the [[CIA leak grand jury investigation]] of the [[Plame affair]]. [[United States Deputy Attorney General|Deputy Attorney General]] [[James B. Comey]], acting as Attorney General in Ashcroft's place, appointed Fitzgerald to the [[U.S. Department of Justice Office of Special Counsel]] in charge of the investigation.<ref name="boston.com" /><ref name="writ.news.findlaw.com" /> Fitzgerald was well-known to Comey and, at the time, was godfather to one of Comey's children.

On December 30, 2003, three months after the start of the Plame investigation, Fitzgerald was appointed [[U.S. Department of Justice Office of Special Counsel|Special Counsel]]. Through this, Fitzgerald was delegated "all the authority of the Attorney General" in the matter. In February 2004, Acting Attorney General Comey clarified the delegated authority and stated that Fitzgerald has [[plenary authority]]. Comey wrote "further, my conferral on you of the title of 'Special Counsel' in this matter should not be misunderstood to suggest that your position and authorities are defined and limited by 28 CFR Part 600".<ref name="Government2004">{{cite web |website=Government Accountability Office |title=Special Counsel and Permanent Indefinite Appropriation, B-302582 |date=2004-09-30 |url=http://www.gao.gov/decisions/appro/302582.htm |access-date=2006-09-16 |archive-date=24 July 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050724075353/http://www.gao.gov/decisions/appro/302582.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref>

On October 28, 2005, Fitzgerald brought an indictment for five counts of false statements, perjury, and obstruction of justice against [[Scooter Libby|Lewis "Scooter" Libby]], [[Vice President of the United States|U.S. Vice President]] [[Dick Cheney]]'s Chief of Staff. Libby resigned to prepare for his legal defense. In his first press conference after announcing Libby's indictment, Fitzgerald was asked about comments by Republicans such as [[Kay Bailey Hutchison]], who said "I certainly hope that if there is going to be an indictment that says something happened, that it is an indictment on a crime and not some perjury technicality", to which Fitzgerald responded, "That talking point won't fly. The truth is the engine of our judicial system. If you compromise the truth, the whole process is lost. If we were to walk away from this, we might as well hand in our jobs."<ref name="Media2005">{{cite news |title=Transcript of Special Counsel Fitzgerald's Press Conference |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=2005-10-28 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/28/AR2005102801340.html |access-date=October 20, 2025}}</ref>

[[Robert Novak]]'s testimony in Libby's perjury trial made it known that the two senior administration sources he cited in his article were [[Richard Armitage (government official)|Richard Armitage]] and [[Karl Rove]].<ref name="Ref_2007">{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/02/12/cia.leak/ |title=Columnist testifies Rove confirmed Plame was CIA |work=[[CNN]] |date=2007-02-12 |access-date=October 20, 2025}}</ref> A month later Armitage claimed Fitzgerald had instructed him not to go public with this information.<ref name="Ref_g">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/07/AR2006090701781.html |title=Armitage Says He Was Source of CIA Leak |work=Washington Post |date=2006-09-08 |access-date=October 20, 2025 |first=R. Jeffrey |last=Smith}}</ref> Journalist Michael Isikoff received confirmation from Rove's lawyer and from lobbyist [[Richard F. Hohlt]] that Rove was also faxed an advance copy of the article several days before it was published.<ref name="Ref_e">{{cite web |url=https://www.newsweek.com/man-mystery-105045 |first=Michael |last=Isikoff |title=A Man Of Mystery |date=March 13, 2010 |work=Newsweek |access-date=October 20, 2025}}</ref>

On March 6, 2007, Libby was convicted of 4 out of 5 charges of lying under oath. Fitzgerald announced on the courthouse steps that while he is always open to receiving new information related to the case, he expects to file no further charges, and the prosecutors would "return to their day jobs". Libby was sentenced to a $250,000 fine, 2 years of probation, and a 2½ year prison term. After a court of appeals rejected Libby's attempt to delay the prison sentence while he appealed the verdict, President George W. Bush commuted the prison portion of Libby's sentence, but did not commute the fine.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/03/washington/03libby.html |title=Bush Commutes Libby Sentence, Saying 30 Months 'Is Excessive' |work=[[The New York Times]] |author=Scott Shane and Neil A. Lewis |date=July 3, 2007 |url-access=limited}}</ref>

Two days after the verdict, Congressman [[Henry Waxman]], chair of the [[U.S. House Committee on Government Reform]], announced that his committee would ask Plame to testify on March 16, in an effort by his committee to look into "whether White House officials followed appropriate procedures for safeguarding Plame's identity".<ref name="Ref_2007a">{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-congress-leak-idUSN0833270020070309/ |title=Plame to testify to Congress on leak |work=Reuters |date=August 9, 2007 |access-date=October 20, 2025 |url-access=limited}}</ref> In March 2007, despite Fitzgerald's previous Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service in 2002, Fitzgerald was ranked among prosecutors who "had not distinguished themselves" as opposed to "strong U.S. Attorneys who exhibited loyalty to the administration" on a Justice Department chart sent to the White House in March 2005.<ref name="Eggen2007">{{cite news |title=Fitzgerald Ranked During Leak Case |newspaper=Washington Post |date=March 20, 2007 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/19/AR2007031902036.html |first1=Dan |last1=Eggen |first2=John |last2=Solomon |access-date=2010-05-21}}</ref> This was revealed in light of an investigation of the December [[2006 dismissal of U.S. attorneys|2006 firings of several U.S. Attorneys]] by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, perceived as being politically motivated.<ref name="Solomon2007">{{cite news |last=Solomon |first=John |title=Gonzales aide rated Fitzgerald mediocre |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=2007-03-20 |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703200151mar20,1,807063.story?coll=chi-news-hed |access-date=2007-04-11}}</ref> Two other prosecutors so ranked were dismissed. On July 2, 2007, President Bush provided a statement<ref name="Ref_f">{{cite web |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2007/07/20070702-3.html |title=Statement by the President on Executive Clemency for Lewis Libby |publisher=Georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov |date=2007-07-02 |access-date=2012-04-01}}</ref> on his decision to commute Libby's prison sentence and noted:

<blockquote>After the investigation was under way, the Justice Department appointed United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Patrick Fitzgerald as a Special Counsel in charge of the case. Mr. Fitzgerald is a highly qualified, professional prosecutor who carried out his responsibilities as charged.</blockquote>

On April 13, 2018, Libby was [[pardon]]ed by [[President of the United States|President]] [[Donald Trump]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/13/us/politics/trump-pardon-scooter-libby.html |title=Trump Pardons Scooter Libby in a Case That Mirrors His Own |work=The New York Times |first=Peter |last=Baker |date=April 13, 2018 |access-date=April 15, 2018 |url-access=limited}}</ref>

=== Conrad Black and Hollinger ===
On November 17, 2005, Fitzgerald brought criminal fraud charges against former Canadian [[media mogul]] [[Conrad Black]], as well as against three other [[Hollinger Inc.|Hollinger]] executives. The trial of Black began at the federal court in Chicago in March 2007. Black was convicted on July 13, 2007 and was later sentenced to serve 78 months in federal prison, pay Hollinger $6.1 million, and pay a fine of $125,000.<ref>BBC News Business: [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6897991.stm "Conrad Black convicted of fraud"] July 13, 2007.</ref>

=== RISCISO Indictments ===
On February 1, 2006, the U.S. Attorney's Office under Fitzgerald announced that it was indicting nineteen members of [[Risciso]], a software and movie piracy ring, in U.S. District Court in Chicago. The prosecution was the result of an undercover investigation, Operation Jolly Roger, that was part of [[Operation Site Down]]—an initiative by the [[FBI]] and law enforcement agents from ten other countries to disrupt and dismantle many of the leading [[warez]] groups that distribute and trade in copyrighted software, movies, music, and games on the Internet.<ref name="Associated2006">{{cite news|last=Associated Press|title=19 Indicted in Software Piracy Plot|publisher=CBS News|date=2006-02-01 |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/19-indicted-in-software-piracy-plot/ |access-date=2006-09-16}}</ref><ref name="United2006">{{cite press release|title=19 Indicted in $6.5 million "RISCISO" Software Piracy Conspiracy |publisher=[[United States Department of Justice]] |date=2006-09-01 |url=http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/iln/pr/chicago/2006/pr0201_01.pdf |access-date=2006-09-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060915200431/http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/iln/pr/chicago/2006/pr0201_01.pdf |archive-date=September 15, 2006 }}</ref>

=== Blagojevich corruption arrest ===
{{Main|Rod Blagojevich corruption charges}}
On December 9, 2008, Fitzgerald confirmed in a press conference in Chicago that [[Governor of Illinois|Illinois governor]] [[Rod Blagojevich]] and his chief of staff, John Harris, had been arrested by the FBI early that morning on charges of corruption. Fitzgerald described Blagojevich's actions as the "kind of conduct [that] would make [[Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln]] roll over in his grave".<ref name="Ref_2008">{{cite news|url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/blagojevich_corruption_probe |title=Ill. governor arrested in corruption scandal |date=2008-12-09 |location=Chicago |agency=Associated Press |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211013724/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/blagojevich_corruption_probe |archive-date=December 11, 2008 }}</ref> Blagojevich was charged with [[mail fraud]] and solicitation of a [[bribe]]. According to Fitzgerald, Blagojevich attempted to sell off President-elect [[Barack Obama]]'s open U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder, as well as pressuring the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' to fire editors critical of the Blagojevich administration in exchange for state assistance in selling [[Wrigley Field]].<ref name="Ref_2008a">{{cite news|url=http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008/12/us-attorney-fitzgerald-press-conference-blagojevich.html |title=Fitzgerald: 'New low' in Illinois politics |date=2008-12-09 |work=Breaking News |location=Chicago |publisher=[[Tribune Company]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081212043919/http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008/12/us-attorney-fitzgerald-press-conference-blagojevich.html |archive-date=December 12, 2008 }}</ref> Fitzgerald said at the news conference that, "I laid {{sic}} awake at night", worrying about the possible firing of Tribune editors.<ref name="Ref_2008b">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/09/us/politics/09text-illinois.html|title=Transcript – Justice Department Briefing on Blagojevich Investigation|date=2008-12-09|work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

=== Larry Nassar investigation ===
In 2014, Fitzgerald was hired by [[Michigan State University]] to conduct an internal investigation to discover whether and when university officials knew about sexual assault allegations against Dr. [[Larry Nassar]]. Fitzgerald reported to university officials that no MSU official "believed" that Nassar had committed sexual assault, but did not provide any written report detailing the evidence for this claim.<ref>Justin Hinkley, MSU lawyer tells Bill Schuette officials didn't know about Nassar until 2016, Detroit Free Press, December 8, 2017; Michael Campbell, Dr. Larry Nassar: A history of preying on people, Lansing State Journal and IndyStar timeline, http://interactives.indystar.com/news/standing/OutofBalance/NassarTimeline/LSJ.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181027071635/http://interactives.indystar.com/news/standing/OutofBalance/NassarTimeline/LSJ.html |date=2018-10-27 }}</ref>

=== James Comey indictment ===
In 2025, Fitzgerald began serving as the defense counsel for [[James Comey]] following his indictment on September 25, 2025,<ref>Vance, Joyce, [https://joycevance.substack.com/p/live-with-preet-bharara-479 Discussion of Comey indictment by Joyce Vance and Preet Bharara], Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance, September 26, 2025</ref> by a federal grand jury in Virginia on two charges that are related to his Congressional testimony in September 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-25 |first=Kyle |last=Cheney |first2=Josh |last2=Gerstein |title='Let's have a trial': Comey proclaims innocence as Trump revels in grand jury indictment he demanded |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/25/james-comey-charges-indictment-00581501 |website=POLITICO |language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==
* {{anl|CIA leak grand jury investigation}}
* {{anl|Operation Crooked Code}}<ref name="Ref_i">Fitzgerald Named "Fed of The Year" by ticklethewire.com</ref>
* {{anl|Plame affair timeline}}
* {{anl|Rod Blagojevich federal corruption scandal}}
* {{anl|U.S. Department of Justice Office of Special Counsel}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|Patrick Fitzgerald}}
{{wikisource|works=or}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051022003609/http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/iln/osc/index.html USDOJ Office of Special Counsel Homepage]
* [http://www.pritzkermilitary.org/whats_on/pritzker-military-presents/front-center-john-callaway-usa-patriot-act/ Interview] with Fitzgerald on the [[Patriot Act]] at the [[Pritzker Military Museum & Library]]
* M.J. Stephey, [https://web.archive.org/web/20081212174451/http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1865756,00.html 2-minute Biodata], ''[[Time Magazine]]'', December 11, 2008
* {{C-SPAN|1001637}}
* {{IMDb name|4515224}}
* {{NYTtopic|people/f/patrick_j_fitzgerald}}
* [http://patrickjfitzgerald.blogspot.com From the Desk of Patrick J. Fitzgerald Blog]
* [http://www.skadden.com/professionals/patrick-fitzgerald Profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130701130027/http://www.skadden.com/professionals/patrick-fitzgerald |date=2013-07-01 }}, skadden.com; accessed August 16, 2015.

{{s-start}}
{{s-legal}}
{{s-bef|before=Scott Lassar}}
{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|[[United States Attorney]] for the [[United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois|Northern District of Illinois]]}}|years=2001–2012}}
{{s-aft|after=Zachary Fardon}}
{{s-end}}

{{Rod Blagojevich}}
{{Special Prosecutors and Independent Counsels of the U.S.}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgerald, Patrick}}
[[Category:1960 births]]
[[Category:Activists from New York (state)]]
[[Category:American civil rights lawyers]]
[[Category:American people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:American prosecutors]]
[[Category:Amherst College alumni]]
[[Category:Harvard Law School alumni]]
[[Category:Lawyers from Brooklyn]]
[[Category:Lawyers from Chicago]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People associated with the Plame affair]]
[[Category:People from Flatbush, Brooklyn]]
[[Category:Regis High School (New York City) alumni]]
[[Category:Rod Blagojevich]]
[[Category:Special prosecutors]]
[[Category:United States attorneys]]
[[Category:United States attorneys for the Northern District of Illinois]]
[[Category:United States Department of Justice lawyers]]