From the Tribune:

Gonzales aide rated Fitzgerald mediocre
Prosecutor's ranking same as 2 others who were fired

By Dan Eggen and John Solomon, The Washington Post; Post staff writer Michael Abramowitz contributed to this report
Published March 20, 2007

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald of Chicago was ranked among prosecutors who had "not distinguished themselves" on a Justice Department chart sent to the White House in March 2005, when he was leading a CIA leak investigation that resulted in the perjury conviction of a former vice presidential aide, administration officials said Monday.

The ranking placed Fitzgerald below "strong U.S. Attorneys ... who exhibited loyalty" to the administration but above "weak U.S. Attorneys who ... chafed against Administration initiatives, etc.," according to Justice documents.

The chart was the first step in an effort to identify U.S. attorneys who should be removed. Two prosecutors who received the same ranking as Fitzgerald were later fired, documents show.

The chart was drawn up by Kyle Sampson, an aide to Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales, and was sent to then-White House counsel Harriet Miers. The reference to Fitzgerald is in a portion of the memo that Justice has refused to turn over to Congress, officials told The Washington Post, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the Fitzgerald ranking has not been made public.

At the time, Fitzgerald was leading the probe into the leak of the identity of a CIA operative, which led this month to the perjury conviction of vice presidential aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Fitzgerald also had recently brought a corruption indictment against former Republican Gov. George Ryan.

Fitzgerald's ranking adds another dimension to the prosecutor firings, which began as a White House proposal to remove all 93 U.S. attorneys after the 2004 elections and evolved into the coordinated dismissal of eight last year. The firings have caused an uproar on Capitol Hill amid allegations of improper political interference and have led several lawmakers in both parties to call on Gonzales to resign.

The Justice Department on Monday night turned over hundreds of pages of new documents about the firings to the House and Senate Judiciary committees.

A Justice Department official Monday sought to play down the importance of the Fitzgerald ranking, saying the chart was "put together by Sampson and is not an official department position on these U.S. attorneys."

Sampson resigned as Gonzales' chief of staff last week, and his attorney declined to comment Monday.

Mary Jo White, who supervised Fitzgerald when she served as the U.S. attorney in Manhattan and who has criticized the firings, said ranking Fitzgerald as a middling prosecutor "lacks total credibility across the board."

"He is probably the best prosecutor in the nation, certainly one of them," said White, who worked in the Clinton and Bush administrations. "It casts total doubt on the whole process."


Honored for his service

Fitzgerald has been widely recognized for his pursuit of criminal cases against Al Qaeda's terrorist network before the Sept. 11 attacks, and he drew up the official U.S. indictment against Osama bin Laden. He was named as special counsel in the CIA leak case in December 2003 by Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft, who had recused himself.

Fitzgerald also won the Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service in 2002 under Ashcroft and has been recognized with several other honors in his career.

Justice spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos said Monday that "Pat Fitzgerald has a distinguished record as one of the most experienced and well-respected prosecutors at the Justice Department. His track record speaks for itself."

But Fitzgerald also came under sharp criticism from many Republicans and media advocates for his aggressive pursuit of the Libby case, which centered on efforts by the White House and Vice President Dick Cheney to combat criticism of the Iraq war and featured trial testimony from journalists who had been reluctant to testify.

The March 2, 2005, memo from Sampson came in response to a proposal floated by Miers to remove all U.S. attorneys during President Bush's second term. Fitzgerald was placed in a middle category among his peers: "No recommendation; have not distinguished themselves either positively or negatively."

Although the ranking meant that Sampson was not recommending those prosecutors for removal at the time, two U.S. attorneys who received the same ranking were fired last Dec. 7: Daniel Bogden of Nevada and Paul Charlton of Arizona.

In addition, two other prosecutors who were listed in the top category on Sampson's chart were also fired: David Iglesias in New Mexico and Kevin Ryan in San Francisco.


`A very professional job'

Two administration officials said Fitzgerald was never included on later lists of U.S. attorneys targeted for removal by Sampson, who has been portrayed by administration officials and documents as being in charge of the firings effort.

Sampson's memo was among more than 140 pages of documents sent to congressional investigators last week, but the names of most of the prosecutors and their rankings had been deleted. Senate Judiciary Committee investigators have demanded an unredacted version of the memo, but the administration has refused to provide it, according to a Justice official and a Democratic Senate aide.

Administration officials said they do not know why Sampson put Fitzgerald in the "not distinguished" category. Bush said last year that Fitzgerald had done "a very professional job" in the CIA leak investigation.

Gonzales acknowledged last week that "mistakes were made" in the handling of the firings. White House press secretary Tony Snow told reporters Monday that Bush maintains full confidence in Gonzales, who has served Bush for more than 12 years.

"We hope he stays," Snow said.